Bitterly Yours
by Kanna37
Summary: Trapped by his mother into mating a female he despised, Sesshoumaru's bitterness knows no bounds, especially when he expects to have to watch the female he'd decided he wanted grow old and die. Imagine his surprise - and hope - when she doesn't... Short chapter story to welcome in the New Year. Winner 1st Best Romance, FA 1st Quarter 2013.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Frozen inside, Sesshoumaru did not react as his mother and the leader of his council gave him their demands. He would never let either of them see just how much their words pained and enraged him... never.

He merely stared at them blandly, his icy demeanor the same as it always was. But he swore that one day... both would die by his hand.

"I have seen the way you look at that _human_ _miko_, Sesshoumaru," his mother spat hatefully, "and I will never tolerate my son following in his damned father's footsteps. You will take Yue to mate, and produce pure inuyoukai as heirs for the West. If you so much as look at that disgusting human once more, she, and that kitsune she cares for, will not only die at my claws... they will _suffer_ at them. I will not remove the threat to them until you have mated Yue."

Bored expression firmly in place, Sesshoumaru met his mother's eyes. "You must truly despise her to throw her to the fate you are in forcing my hand in this matter. I greatly detest being forced into anything, you know this."

Looking surprised, Satori stared suspiciously at her son. "I adore Yue – what makes you think I dislike her?"

Pointedly examining his claws, Sesshoumaru said, "You are condemning her to a life of hell, forcing me to mate her. I despise the bitch. On my father's blood, she will be miserable. I vow it."

The hitherto silent leader of the council spoke up, then, his own eyes narrowed angrily. "My daughter is perfect for the role as Western Lady. She has the breeding and the power to be a match to you. What is there to hate?"

Turning to look slowly at the male, something in his eyes gave him away, and the older male shrank back slightly, suddenly not so certain that forcing the deadly Sesshoumaru's hand in this manner was a good idea. But once Satori got something into her mind, that was it, and he was well aware that it was too late to back out now – his daughter would be the Lady of the West.

And kami help them all, because one day, Sesshoumaru would get his revenge.

"Your daughter is just one of the many useless, greedy, and boring females that inhabit the courts, always trying any trick to entice me into mating them. You will regret this one day, this I promise you." His gaze moved to his mother, who was scowling. "You as well, woman." He stared her down for several more moments, and then said, "Very well. I will mate the wench the next time her fertile cycle comes."

With that, the cold Lord walked away, not looking back once at his now satisfied mother.

But inside, rage and hatred burned, and he swore that he would have his vengeance one day.

_As you have denied me happiness, mother, so I will deny your little pet bitch Yue happiness. Mark my words... you will all three rue the day you threatened the miko and forced my hand._

~oOo~

Trying and failing to appear demure, the day of Yue's fertility arrived, and she prepared herself to be mated by the male every female youkai lusted after. Head full of self-satisfied dreams, wanting nothing more than to gloat to the world that he was about to be hers, she went to her fate...

And found it wasn't what she'd thought it would be.

She had been so certain that she would be able to wrap him around her finger with just a little coaxing – after all, she was a beautiful female, and was well-liked by his mother. She had the bearing to be the Lady of the West, and was quite powerful on her own – a perfect match for him. They would create powerful pups between them, something she had been so certain would please him.

But the day of her mating showed her just how wrong she had been...

Looking forward to being bedded by the gorgeous male, she had prepared herself for his pleasure and gone to his rooms, thinking that was where she would be sleeping from now on – only to find out how wrong she was. He had personally thrown her out of them, having Jaken take and show her to her new rooms – on the other side of the palace, and as far away from him as possible.

As if that wasn't bad enough, when he did show up to commence the mating and she attempted to be seductive for his benefit, he had been very blunt in letting her know of his hatred and disdain for her, his complete lack of attraction to her, and that he required nothing from her other than that she present herself for mating with no fuss so that he could get his unpleasant duty over with as quickly as possible.

Shocked, she had assumed the position – at which point he had rejected her, saying that she wasn't yet in the height of her heat, and he would wait. When she'd asked why that mattered, confused, she'd been stunned even more when he'd stated that, as he had no intentions of ever touching her again once he'd sired the all-important heir on her, he wanted to wait 'til she was at her most fertile so he would only be required to touch her once, and no more.

Bewildered by his coldness, she'd asked why he hated her so... and he told her.

"You are a scheming whore, along with my worthless mother. You may have succeeded in placing yourself as the Lady here with my mother's connivance, but I despise you as much as I despise her – and the easy life you'd thought to have at my expense will not be what you get. You will quickly come to regret ever being part of this scheme, I promise you, wench."

Sure enough, when her scent showed her to be at the height of her heat, he ordered her into position, mounted her, and forced himself to perform. Within an hour, her scent had shifted, proving she was indeed pupped... and he left her rooms, his duty done, never to return to them again.

~oOo~

Satori and Yue learned the hard way that they had bitten off more than they could chew with what they had done – Satori hadn't been smart enough to constrict his behavior more through threats to the little miko he was so obsessed with, only requiring that he mate Yue and sire an heir on her in return for leaving Kagome alone. Because of this, they left an open field for the daiyoukai in terms of how he dealt with them both, and even Yue's father, the head of his council, could do nothing about it.

Satori was tossed from the Western Palace and forbidden entrance ever again. Her word held in bond, she couldn't even take out her anger on the completely ignorant Kagome, and was left with no recourse but to watch the goings on in the Western Palace from afar, and be able to influence those happenings not at all. Sesshoumaru made his hatred of her quite clear, and told her bluntly that if she ever approached him, or ever attempted to access his heir, she would die at his hand.

She couldn't miss that he meant every word, and was left to stew in her impotent anger in her own palace, firmly locked out of the life she'd so enjoyed in the Western Courts, and unable to assist her friend Yue in her now hellish life.

As for Yue, she found that her attempts at seduction, at gaining her mate's attentions, were completely in vain – and in fact, nearly ended up with her death on more than one occasion. True to his word, once she was impregnated, he never came near her or touched her again, and quite blatantly forbid her presence anywhere he was. He began taking all his meals in his study, and rarely left it unless patrolling his lands. When duty called and he was forced to attend the Lords of the other lands for whatever political reason, she was not on his arm, and when asked, he stated straight out that she was a political consideration, and that he absolutely detested her and would never appear with her in any setting whatsoever.

Her father was unable to do anything to help her – Sesshoumaru was looking for the slightest reason to be able to kill him, and he didn't dare push himself forward in any way. The only thing he could tell his daughter was that she must simply wait and hope that at some point, his anger would abate, and that he would then become more amenable to her.

As she grew bigger with child, Yue began to hope that with the birth of his heir, he would warm to her – she could not understand why she couldn't manipulate him as she had her other lovers. He should have been happy to get between her thighs, much as all the others had been...

And Sesshoumaru simply bided his time, knowing that one day, he would be able to gain his revenge on the three for interfering with his chance at happiness.

_I am bitterly yours, mother... most bitterly yours. And someday, I will return that bitterness to you, I promise._

Not that Kagome had known of his interest in her. He had just decided to ask her permission to court her before his mother had forced his hand – he would never do anything that would endanger her, and so she had never realized that he cared for her.

For the longest time he had watched her from a distance, thinking she would end up with his brother, but in the end, that whelp had forsaken her for the undead miko, leaving her alone in a world that wasn't hers, but which she was trapped in, the well having closed when the jewel was destroyed.

Now, the most he could hope for was occasional visits with her as no more than a once ally, rather than the lovers he had so hoped to be. He had been bitterly certain he would be forced to watch her age and die, since, as he hadn't been able to mate her, she would not have his life-span... it became apparent, however, after about fifteen years, that she wasn't aging for whatever reason, and though he was surprised, he was quite pleased with that fact.

It gave him an idea... and a hope that maybe, having her as his someday might not be so impossible as he'd thought – if he had patience.

~oOo~

Time went by, and Sesshoumaru's heir was born and grew in power and skill, resembling his great father completely and his manipulative mother not at all, to his sire's great relief and pleasure. The pup, within a very few years, refused on his own to have anything to do with his mother, being very intelligent and easily able to see her for what she was – a greedy, manipulative female with no redeeming qualities. She'd tried one too many times to use him to get into his father's good graces, and it had never worked. He had no desire to be used by his mother in such a manner, and was very happy when his father finally ordered her to stay away from him.

Sesshoumaru couldn't deny he was pleased with his heir, and the two were very close, rarely apart from each other as the daiyoukai trained his scion for what would one day be his duties. Ginkoutaishii, for that was his name, was even well aware of his father's desire for the young human miko he'd seen many times while on patrol – his sire always made a trip to see her while out of the palace.

He liked her – she was warm and welcoming, and didn't have a false bone in her body, unlike his own mother. He was quite willing to see his sire court and mate her... once his mother was taken care of and out of the way, of course.

And so passed more years...

~oOo~

Kagome sat back on her heels and sighed, looking around with a resigned expression at the lack of dokudami in the clearing she was in. Putting a hand to her back, she wrinkled her nose at the thought of getting up and moving to another area only to get back down to harvest the needed herb.

"I'm getting too old for this," she joked to her companion, and Shippo laughed at her.

A full grown kitsune now with two tails, the fox she'd raised grinned at her. "Whatever you say, mama. Old. Ha. You don't look any older than you did when the hunt for Naraku ended, and that was what... almost sixty years ago?"

She stood, shooting him an exasperated look. "Sure, Shippo, make me feel better by bringing up how old I really am," she said. "I'm getting a crick in my back and all you can do is tease me. Fat lot of good having a strong, healthy son is doing me right now."

Bowing teasingly at her, he took the basket from her and tucked her arm solicitously under his. "Come on, then, honored mother, I will assist your feeble form in completing your chores," he chuckled, ducking when she swatted playfully at him before laughing and taking her basket back.

"Oh, give me that, you brat. Now I know why Inuyasha was always pounding you on the head, you pain in the rear!"

The two wandered further into the woods as they teased each other back and forth, just enjoying each others company.

It had been almost sixty years since the fall of Naraku, and Kagome and Shippo had been inseparable since the day she'd found her way home no longer working.

Forsaken by Inuyasha when a somehow living Kikyou showed up in the village with no explanation as to how she'd gotten that way, Kagome had quickly chosen to move with Sango and Miroku to the slayer's village they were determined to rebuild, and along with Kohaku, had been the first members of the new village.

They'd been there ever since, Kagome making an excellent healer and village miko. Though Sango had tried many times to interest her in some man or another, not wanting to see her friend alone, Kagome had never shown any interest in anyone since Inuyasha's betrayal of her heart, and so was still alone, even as she'd watched her friends marry, produce a family, and just a few years ago, pass on together to go to the next world. It wouldn't have mattered even if she had shown interest, though... since who would marry a woman who wasn't aging?

Her only remaining companions from her original shard hunting days were now Shippo and Kirara... and several times a year, Sesshoumaru would show up and visit.

_Sesshoumaru..._

As Shippo took off to meet with some friends from the village to go hunting for the cooking pits, Kagome's thoughts turned to the _real _reason she'd never shown interest in anyone else... the daiyoukai.

No one had ever known that by the time Inuyasha had turned away from her for Kikyou, she'd no longer cared, her interests laying in the opposite direction. Kagome had grown too much, matured too much to remain attracted to Inuyasha – instead, his gorgeous, elegant and _mature_ older brother had stolen her heart right out from under the oblivious hanyou.

She'd always known that she'd never have a chance with him, of course, and she'd been surprised the first time he'd come to visit her after Naraku's fall. She'd been honored he'd even thought of her as a useful ally, and that he'd remembered her at all. It had been something she'd been hopelessly happy about every time he'd show up to visit – usually four or five times a year. He never spoke about his life, simply inquiring about hers and carrying on different discussions with her, so when he'd shown up with a younger version of himself the first time, she'd had a hard time hiding the pain she'd felt at knowing he'd married and had a son.

She'd felt so alone, then, and forlorn, something she'd never felt so deeply before – not even when Inuyasha had run off to Kikyou so many times in her younger years. But she'd clamped down hard on those feelings, reminding herself that she had no right to feel that way – Sesshoumaru wasn't hers and never would be.

Still... she'd never understood his visits... sometimes wishing she had the courage to ask him, but she didn't. She didn't want to make him rethink them and stop coming, because those visits were the highlights of her life... as sad as that was.

Sitting back and brushing her locks back over her shoulders as the breeze flirted with them, she sighed, a bit melancholy. Never, back when she was younger and going back and forth through an old wooden well, would she have thought her life would turn out this way...

"An old maid, alone and with no hope for anything else," she said slowly to herself. "What a mess."

She let her mind wander, wondering about his wife. _What's she like? And why doesn't he ever talk about her? It's so strange – he never speaks about anything personal except his son. _Shaking her head, she wondered what he would do if she were ever to actually ask about her.

Chuckling to herself, she said, "Probably ice up on me and tell me that she was not the concern of a lowly ningen such as myself."

After another moment, she put aside such useless thoughts and turned her mind back to her gathering, wanting to get done with it before dark. She didn't really want to have to come out here tomorrow, as well, though the peace outside the village was nice sometimes.

She worked for some time, gathering her stores of herbs, and was just getting ready to head back to the village she called home when the attack came.

Turning, she had mere seconds to put up a barrier before youki slammed into it, sizzling into nothingness against her power. Confused, she stared at the youkai now standing outside her barrier with hatred pouring from her aura.

"Who the heck are you, and why are you attacking me?" she asked in confusion, totally blindsided. This was a personal attack, and the woman staring at her with such hatred was after _her_, specifically – she could _feel_ it. She was beautiful, wearing obviously expensive clothing, and was quite powerful, as evidenced by her attack.

She was also someone she, Kagome, had never seen before.

"You are nothing but a wretched human, even if you _are_ a miko! Yet you are the reason my mate rejects me!" she snarled, obviously enraged as her eyes bled scarlet and fangs and claws lengthened. It was clear that she was about to transform.

Dumbfounded, Kagome blinked, her jaw dropping in shock. "Ummm, if you could enlighten me... I don't even know who you are. And who's your mate? I'm afraid I'm at a loss to understand what you're talking about," she finished, her confusion more than obvious.

It took the female youkai aback, and she blinked narrowed eyes at Kagome, beginning to wonder if what she'd been told was correct – but only for a moment.

"My mate is Sesshoumaru, and my name is Yue. Do you deny that you know him, then?" she asked haughtily.

Startled, Kagome shook her head, barrier still firmly in place. "Of course I know Sesshoumaru – we were, after all, allies against Naraku. But that was long ago, and I only occasionally even see him, when he stops in the village and visits myself and my son Shippo. So what did you mean that _I'm_ the reason he's rejecting you? Whatever gave you an idea like that? Sesshoumaru hates humans!"

"Liar! You_ are _the one my father told me of – the reason that my mate has never wanted me. If I kill you, then he will have no further reason to turn from me," Yue snapped, bringing her youki up again to attempt to break through the barrier keeping her from destroying the human that her Lord wanted so badly.

Kagome was getting irritated by this time, and it showed in her voice as she poured more power into her barrier. "I don't know what your father told you, but I have nothing to do with how Sesshoumaru treats you or doesn't. We're nothing more than somewhat friendly former allies, and how you can think that has any bearing on how Sesshoumaru feels about you, is beyond me!" she retorted.

"You foolish bitch!" the half-transformed Yue screamed. "It is because he is in love with you that he rejects me! His mother and my father forced his hand on the matter of taking me as his mate – and it is an _insult _that he had to be coerced into mating one such as I, and all over a useless, wretched human bitch like you!"

Stunned breathless, Kagome couldn't do anything more than stare at the female, eyes wide and totally shocked. _It can't be true... that's... no, something's wrong with this picture. Sesshoumaru would never love a human. It's ludicrous... but oh... how I wish it were true, _she thought, her battered heart bleeding just a little more at that sad thought.

"You surely don't know Sesshoumaru, then, if you think that, since he would never allow himself to feel anything like _love_ for a simple human," Kagome finally returned, turning her mind to the battle about to commence. With her being Sesshoumaru's mate, Kagome couldn't bring herself to purify her – even if she and he were on bad terms, she didn't think the daiyoukai would appreciate her killing his mate... and the mother of his heir. So what could she do? For now... simple defense, and hope the female got tired of attacking her after a while.

She was surprised to see the woman draw a katana from her obi, and with a sigh, realized that Yue was probably going to channel her youki through that. _Damn! I wonder what kind of attacks that one has? I really didn't need this... _

Before Yue could do more than draw her weapon, however, two auras practically exploded onto the scene, dropping to the ground right in front of her barrier, and when the dust cleared, Kagome was surprised, but relieved, to see Sesshoumaru – and his son, Ginkoutaishii. _Silver crown prince, _Kagome thought idly as the fading sunlight hit the younger male's hair, lighting it as beautifully as his sire's. _A more appropriate name I could not imagine for him... sweet personality, too. Hard to believe that woman's his mother._

Confronted by her furious mate, Yue shrank back, bitter, angry – and very afraid. His aura was raging, and that never meant anything good. She started to speak, but he cut her off immediately.

"Silence," he snapped icily, his voice quiet, soft, but oh, so deadly. Not looking away from her, he said, "Take the miko and escort her back to her village, Ginkoutaishii, and stay there with her. I will come to you when I am finished dealing with this... _situation_."

Kagome watched, bewildered, as Sesshoumaru stared his mate down, and then turned to look at Ginkoutaishii as he turned to her and motioned for her to drop her barrier. Nodding, she did, and he moved forward to take her arm with courtly grace. "Are you unharmed, Kagome-sama?" he asked, his voice concerned as he led her from the clearing without a backwards glance at his beyond angry father or his mother.

Dazed, she could do little more than nod as she attempted to get her whirling brain to settle down. "Umm," she started, then hesitated, before finishing, "what was that really all about?" in a confused rush.

The young inuyoukai prince shrugged. "Yue has finally gone too far in her quest for power and control of Father, and he will probably kill her. It will be no great loss," he said casually, to Kagome's shock.

"But... isn't she your mother? You don't mind that he's going to kill her?!" she asked, horrified.

She didn't miss his displeased expression.

"It is technically true that the female did give birth to me. However, she is no mother to me. And as for her finding her death at father's hands, it is about time, if you ask me. She has gotten away with far too much, but only because of my father's mother's threats against you. However, Yue has now acted against their agreement, and because of that, she has negated it. Actually, I believe that Yue, her father, and Father's mother will all find their ends at Father's claws this day. I cannot say I blame him – had they done to me what they did to him, I would have killed them, as well."

Looking back over her shoulder as a high-level barrier went up, Kagome frowned as something he'd said sank in, and her head whipped around as she stared at the crown prince of the Inuyoukai with solemn lapis eyes. "Wait a minute... what did you mean Sesshoumaru's mother threatened him _using me_?"

Gintoukaishii met her gaze calmly. "That is something for father to explain when he arrives at your home, Kagome-sama. I have said enough as it is." He eyed her concerned and confused gaze, and sighed. "Please, do not feel badly for Yue's fate, or the fates of the others. Youkai and ningen do not see eye to eye on many things, death and the dealing of it being one of them. All I can say is that they have kept my father from happiness for decades with their actions, and now he is finally going to be free to gain that which he has desired for so many years."

Shaking her head uneasily, Kagome could do little more than accept his words, since she was completely in the dark about all the undercurrents floating around suddenly. Unless someone decided to clue her in on what was happening, she couldn't judge anything about this situation. So she simply led the young inu to her house at the edge of the village nearest the gates, and invited him in to take tea with her as they waited for his father's arrival.

Hopefully, it wouldn't be a long wait... Kagome was ready to fly apart with tension and worry over what had transpired already, and, according to Ginkoutaishii, was still to occur.

She needed answers, and by the kami, she was going to get some when the normally stoic daiyoukai arrived to retrieve his son.

Whether he liked it or not.

~oOo~

The silence left behind in the clearing between the two inuyoukai was deafening – and cold, colder than the windswept peaks of the north. Sesshoumaru said not a word to Yue for some time, inwardly struggling for control.

Finally, after decades of misery, the day of his freedom from the chains his mother had bound him with was at hand – Yue's actions negated the agreement he'd had with his mother, and he was now in a position to protect Kagome while destroying his mother and her pet bitch – she would be unable to harm the miko before she was dead – at his hand, just as he'd promised that day so long ago.

After several minutes of simply staring at her blankly, enjoying seeing Yue cower before him, he held up his right hand and cracked the knuckles in preparation – and slowly smiled, a deadly expression that had Yue panicking as soon as she saw it.

But Sesshoumaru said nothing, not responding to her pleas at all, nor her screams, and within minutes, she was dead, her body dissolved by his poison as though she'd never even existed.

From here on out, the only evidence that she ever had would be his heir, his son.

As the barrier dropped, he flashed into his orb form, a wicked light in his eyes as he headed for his mother's palace.

_Now it is my chance to return my bitterness to you, bitch. _

_Be thankful that I need to return to my miko quickly – it is the only thing that spares you a long and much more painful death._

~oOo~

She hadn't even known what was happening as he'd landed on the steps of her palace and stalked up to her pretentious 'throne' – not until he'd actually laid hands on her and thrown her away from it, to her shock, as well as everyone there. But with his youki elevated and raging as it was, no one dared to approach him, especially not in defense of a female that was universally disliked, anyway.

"Sesshoumaru! What is the meaning of this?" she'd screamed, struggling to her feet after landing so hard against the granite floor of the palace that she'd left a hole in it. "How dare you put your hands on me!"

He'd stared at her with an inimical expression on his face that had her blood running cold, though she'd refused to show her fear.

"I warned you, the day you forced me to mate that repulsive bitch Yue, that one day, I would have my revenge, wench," he drawled coldly, "and thanks to the foolish whore you pushed on me, today is that day. She attacked the miko, Satori, and that means that the agreement we had has been broken."

Satori's eyes widened with horror. "What have you done to her?" she gasped, unable to keep her normally haughty expression under Sesshoumaru's icy glower.

Her day got a thousand times worse when he began to grin, a dangerous, sharp expression to match the gleaming fangs he was baring at her, and he answered sibilantly, "Why, I killed her, what else? Did you really think I would let any of you live once I was in a position to get my revenge for your manipulations? You made my life a living hell, where I could barely stand to be in my own home for the disgust I felt at even looking at your pretentious little pet whore," he spat, "did you really think I would just stay forever under your thumb like a meek little lamb? The moment that bitch attacked the miko she bought her death as well as her father's and yours, and I took great pleasure in taking her life." He raised his claws, letting his eyes fall closed as he licked one, to his mother's horror, almost sensually, clearly remembering the taste of the blood he'd cleaned from them before coming after her. "Her screams were so satisfying, and her blood, though base and far too common for my taste normally, was nonetheless also satisfying in its own way." He opened his eyes and pinned her with them. "I wonder how yours will taste? Probably just as common and base, but one cannot have everything, I suppose," he shrugged.

With no warning, he disappeared in a streak of light, and all those still gathered on the portico froze in horror as the blood began to flow, the screams being ripped from her throat gradually dying down as Sesshoumaru literally tore her to pieces. By the time he was done, there was little left of Satori but ruined flesh and a blood-soaked pelt laying in a gory pile at the foot of her throne.

Into the terrified silence, Sesshoumaru, who was not even breathing hard, spoke, his voice cold enough to freeze the blood in those still living. "Clean this mess up. When I eventually return, I want all of her personal possessions and clothing gone from here. This place is now mine, and I will decide what I wish to do with it in good time. Am I making myself clear?" he asked, glancing around the portico with an icy gaze.

No one said a word, and he turned and leapt over the balcony and into the air, leaving behind not one regret for his mothers death. She had made his life hell for decades with her manipulations, and he was merely returning the favor.

Now it was her turn to dwell in hell.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Sipping tea gently with Ginkoutaishii while awaiting Sesshoumaru's arrival had Kagome in a stew, but she was able to successfully hide that fact as the young inuyoukai talked to her idly of some of the goings on in his father's palace. Some of the tales were actually amusing enough to get a laugh out of her, despite her concern, confusion, and worry.

However, the interruption that came next completely threw her for a loop, when an oddly uncertain Shippo escorted someone Kagome had never thought to see again into her presence.

She stared blankly at a part of her past she'd rarely even thought of in the last years of her life - Inuyasha, looking no different than he ever had stepped into her home with an almost proprietary air, and his first words to her completely confounded her with the way he swept aside decades and different lives as though they didn't even matter.

"Oi, wench! Don't tell me the big bastard now has little bastards! And what the hell is he doin' here, anyway?" the hanyou demanded, glaring suspiciously at the still young but very strong inu pup sitting easily across from the miko of his past. There was no way to mistake who the boy's father was, and Inuyasha had no idea why he would be sitting so comfortably in a human's habitation as though he was used to being there.

After a very long moment of staring at the red-clad hanyou Kagome hadn't seen in decades, his attitude struck her and incited the same anger it always had; noting the beads still laying around his neck, she decided to try them out just as Shippo, who'd stared at Inuyasha while he was speaking with a dropped jaw started to speak. The kit ended up choking on his own laughter, instead.

"Inuyasha, osuwari!" Kagome snapped, beginning to unfold herself from her position on her knees to loom above the now prostrate and cursing hanyou. "Who do you think you are, to enter my home after sixty years of not laying so much as an eye on you, and start acting like you have any say in anything?! You are a guest in my home, and will conduct yourself accordingly or you're going to find yourself kicked right back out!"

She turned after one last narrow glare at the cratered hanyou to look enquiringly at Shippo, highly aware of Ginkoutaishii watching the goings on with wide eyes.

"Where the heck did you find him?" she asked, ready to start hyperventilating. After over sixty years of absence, he had to show up on this of all days? When things were already strange and confusing? She drew a deep breath while waiting for Shippo to answer in an attempt to calm herself and could only be grateful that the little silver prince had great presence of mind for one so young, and even greater patience to have held his peace through the sudden strange presence hostilely demanding answers of her. _When it rains, it pours, _she sighed inwardly.

"Me and the guys were out hunting, and just on our way back when we stumbled into the baka there-" he jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the now growling Inuyasha who was struggling to stand once more, "-and he asked me if you and Sango and Miroku were still around. Apparently, he'd been heading here on purpose hoping to find some of us. What else could I do?" the kit asked rhetorically, and shrugged.

Pinching her fingers over her nose to try to calm the tension beginning to give her a headache, Kagome merely nodded. "Are you going back to help ready the catch for the cooking pits?" she asked, and he nodded back at her, at which she waved him off. "Go ahead, then. Don't keep them waiting. I'll... find some way to deal with this rather... _awkward_ mess."

Sighing deeply as Shippo disappeared out the door with an, "Try not to be such an ass, Inuyasha," tossed over his shoulder, Kagome eyed the hanyou rather unfavorably before turning to the patiently sitting inuyoukai prince and shaking her head. "I am sorry, Ginkoutaishii-sama, about the uproar. I wasn't expecting any... _company_ today... and especially not _this_ company, that's for sure." Once more seating herself, she watched with resignation as Inuyasha sank down to also sit rather nearer to her than she liked, and grumbled to herself.

_Just what I needed... when Sesshoumaru shows back up these two are probably going to blow right up into their usual fights._

"Ah - Kagome-sama," Ginkoutaishii started, hesitantly, obviously realizing she was rather overwhelmed and not wanting to add to that, "this is?" he nodded at the glaring male, wanting to figure out the competition – for the being's actions were advertising him to any inuyoukai as just that.

"It ain't any of your business, brat!" Inuyasha began hotly, his temper obviously no more under control than it had been when Kagome was young, but she cut him off immediately.

"Inuyasha," she began in a warning tone he still remembered quite clearly, "you presume far too much. This is not your house, and he is not your guest. _Shut up_."

He sputtered indignantly but fell silent reluctantly as her expression darkened, and Kagome closed her eyes for a moment – that headache was only growing stronger – before opening them again and smiling at the curious prince. "This is someone I knew many years ago but haven't seen in decades. Actually-" she hesitated a moment, not sure what Sesshoumaru would have wanted her to do in these circumstances, but not wanting to lie, "-he is your father's half-brother," she finished, hoping the daiyoukai didn't get angry at her for telling his son such a thing, true or not.

"Oh, I see," the boy said, nodding. "Father has spoken of the hanyou a few times before. But I thought he had abandoned you and disappeared years ago?" he asked, looking at very irritated male for a moment. "Why would he have returned?"

A heavy aura swept over them at that point, causing Inuyasha to leap to his feet, a low growl rumbling through him in challenge as his brother stepped into the hut as though he had every right. Sesshoumaru eyed his half-brother narrowly.

"That is a good question, my son," he said coldly, moving into the hut to place himself proprietorially close on Kagome's other side, never taking his eyes off his half-brother. "What is it that you do here, Inuyasha?"

"Yes," Kagome's voice piped up before Inuyasha could begin cursing, "I'd like to know that myself," she said, then added, "And you'd better answer politely, _or else,"_ with a tight look in his direction, her fists clenching in her lap.

"Feh," he muttered sullenly, before turning his head away. "I came to see if any of my friends were still around, is that wrong, or something?"

Voice tart, Kagome shot back, "No, but if you'd really wanted to see any of us, you probably shouldn't have waited sixty some years. We were all human except Shippo and Kirara, after all, Inuyasha. My bet is this has something to do with Kikyou. She's dead again, isn't she? And so then you thought you'd see if any of us would still talk to you after you'd just abandoned us."

"Keh!" The hanyou flushed, since Kagome had basically hit the nail on its proverbial head. "It wasn't like that, okay?" he huffed, folding his arms across his chest as his brother shifted position minutely, eyes narrowing. "When Kikyou first came back, she kinda dragged me into this new quest, and before I even realized it, a lot of time had passed. By then, she was getting older, and there was something wrong with her – her health was bad, and she began having a hard time moving. I couldn't... leave her like that, so... basically, I spent the last twenty years taking care of her almost totally. I didn't really move far from her, because she'd become mostly bedridden, and her reiki was also pretty much gone. She died a couple of months ago, and I think-" he shifted, "-she was glad to go. She was finally freed from a body that had become a prison."

Kagome leaned back a bit as she thought about his words, and shook her head inwardly. With a sigh, she nodded at him, knowing that she wouldn't hold his actions against him. Much. There wasn't any point. "I think," she said slowly, with a very direct look at him, "that whatever she did to return to life was flawed, and that was why her body deteriorated so badly. Kaede had no such troubles, and as far as I know in her family, no one else did, either. She basically trapped herself when she did whatever it was, and she probably was relieved to finally pass on, you're right about that."

Inuyasha nodded, still not looking at anyone, and that subject was labeled closed, though Kagome did have one further question. "What was this quest she dragged you into?"

His ears flattened to his head, but he looked over at her, then, an odd look coming onto his face. "What else? She wanted to extend her life... looks like we shoulda just come and asked you, wench. How'd you do it?"

At this, Sesshoumaru turned all his attention on the miko, as well – that was a question he'd often wondered over, himself.

"I didn't do anything. Remember Kaguya? She told me that I was immune to time, and apparently-" she opened her arms and held them wide so everyone could look at her, "-she wasn't joking, because I'm just not aging. I was made this way, I guess."

"Heh," Inuyasha huffed, a rather bitter look on his face. "And Sango and Miroku?" he asked.

"Died a few years ago," she said sadly, missing her friends.

Inuyasha nodded, not surprised, his eyes going far away for a moment with sadness. "Yeah... I kinda thought so. And what about you?" he asked, his voice actually subdued. "Married? Kids?"

She chuckled wryly at that, rolling her eyes at him as Sesshoumaru and his son shifted once more, obviously wishing Inuyasha gone. "Come on, Inuyasha. _Not aging_. What man would want to marry a woman like me?"

She didn't notice the quick flick of golden eyes her way by the daiyoukai at her side, but Inuyasha did. Almost challengingly, he growled, "And you? What the hell are _you_ doin' here, Sesshoumaru? You know, with that, 'I hate humans' thing, and all."

At that question, Sesshoumaru's expression hardened, and he met his brother's gaze with just as much challenge. "You have no right to question me as though you were Kagome's guardian or mate. You are nothing more than a guest in her home, and a reluctant one, at that. Mind your own, Inuyasha."

Before the hanyou could even inhale, Kagome spoke, her words shocking Inuyasha. "He's right. Sesshoumaru and Ginkoutaishii are _welcome_ guests, and you are a surprise, someone who hasn't been around in years." She didn't say anything about Sesshoumaru's presence here being a little different this particular time, but as her thoughts were once more taken back to what had happened earlier in the evening, she glanced at the daiyoukai, then at the matting covering her door, noting the darkness of night coming on. It would be dinner, soon.

Kagome pinned Inuyasha with a firm gaze, letting him know she would brook no argument. "You should go visit with Shippo. Kirara is probably with him – they can fill you in on some of the past, and tell you of Sango and Miroku's lives, as well as introduce you to some of their now grown children. Sesshoumaru and I have some... business to discuss."

Ignoring Inuyasha's disgruntled low growl, the daiyoukai turned to his son and said, "If you would also go sit with the kitsune, my son." Ginkoutaishii simply bowed his head to his father and stood to leave, knowing what was about to be discussed in general, but also knowing that it was a private matter between his sire and Kagome. He hoped that she would prove amenable to his father's suit – he knew that his sire's feelings for her were of the deep and unending variety, as had been proven over the last sixty years of his entrapment by his mother's machinations. He wanted no other than the miko, and had taken no other – unlike many lords, he had no concubines or mistresses, and did not touch Yue at all save for the once to gain his heir, which he had been forced to do, in any case.

Ginkoutaishii felt no _personal_ upset that this was the case; that his sire had been forced to breed his mother to gain him. It was often done, after all – a Lord would breed himself a suitable heir upon a comely female, even if he had no real desire for her himself. He _did,_ however, regret that his father's happiness had been so long withheld by the schemes of a controlling bitch like his grandmother.

He could only be grateful that his father had never allowed the scheming witch to get her claws into him.

The comfortable hut was silent as the two males left, and that silence continued for some few minutes after as their auras grew a bit distant. Once Kagome was certain they were truly alone, she sighed, and suddenly uncertain, looked up at Sesshoumaru.

"Sesshoumaru... what... what was that, earlier, I mean?"

After a moment of watching her with an unreadable expression, he said, "It is a long story."

Kagome shrugged a little ruefully at that with a half smile on her face that spoke volumes. "I've obviously got plenty of time, so go ahead and tell me about it," she said gently.

He couldn't deny that, and with an inclination of his head, he began, his eyes holding hers trapped. He spoke in first person, and Kagome was spellbound. "After the fall of Naraku, I turned my mind to the matter of gaining a mate. However, before I could speak to the one I had chosen, the bitch that had borne me came to me, and made certain threats towards the one who was my choice."

He paused for a moment, his intensity sharpening even more, his eyes like searing flames of molten gold that Kagome could not look away from, her entire body frozen as her breath caught in her throat. _No... is he really... could that female have been right? _she thought disjointedly, remembering what Yue had said... and what Ginkoutaishii had said about Sesshoumaru's mother threatening her life to keep him in line. And now he was saying that the one his mother had threatened was the woman he had chosen as his mate...?

"You see, the one I chose as my own was not inu, nor was she youkai, and if my mother had let it be known that I was seeking such a one as my mate, to be mother to my heir, many would doubtless have risen in violence against that very thing. With my mother backing them, my chosen would have found herself the target of too many youkai to fight them all off. In order to guarantee the safety of the one I wanted, she forced me to mate Yue, her pet bitch, and sire my heir on her, instead."

Breath totally frozen in her chest, Kagome couldn't move her eyes from where he held them trapped, nor would she want to. _He really... it really sounds as if...!_ Her heart thumped hard within her, hope, something she'd lived without for all these years, springing to vibrant life inside her.

He smirked, then, savagely, and Kagome shivered. "However... she did not think to constrain me any further than that... and so I agreed, so that my chosen one would be safe, but the mating would be conducted on my terms. My mother I threw from the Western Palace permanently, and Yue, despite the dreams of power and control filling her empty head with the news that she would be Lady, found herself an outcast, instead." He stopped, and looked away finally, his expression tightening, obviously remembering something distasteful. "I waited until she was at the height of her heat, then forced myself to breed her, so that she would take on the first try and I would never have to touch her again. Fortunately, it worked, and she conceived my son. I rarely even saw her after that, I made certain of it, and once Ginkoutaishii was weaned, he made it clear he did not wish to be in her presence, either."

Kagome blushed a bit to hear him speak so frankly of having sex with that female, even as her heart sparked with jealousy at the thought. But as he didn't speak right away again, she asked a question to try to get him to finish his story. "He disliked his own mother that much?"

Remembered hatred clear in his voice, Sesshoumaru said, "Yue was not just a bitch by way of her sex and species. She was an intolerable wench, and a whore to boot. She had no redeeming qualities at all, and was never a mother to my son."

That basically agreed with the young male's own words in regards to Yue, and Kagome nodded, waiting for him to continue.

He did, after a moment to pull his mind back from obviously unpleasant thoughts. "My bitterness towards the bitch that birthed me, her ally Yue's father, and Yue herself knew no bounds, for I expected to watch the female I had chosen wither and die of old age while I was forced to spend centuries in their presences after her death... imagine my relief – and surprise - when decades passed and the woman did not age," he said, his eyes once more meeting hers... only this time they were hot as the sun, and yet soft, as well – something she'd never seen from him, and suddenly, she couldn't draw enough air, because there was no longer any mistaking that he was speaking of her. "Then I knew that if I was patient, there may still be a chance for me to have her, one day."

"S-Sesshoumaru," she whispered, her throat tight with emotion. "Have you _really_ waited for a chance to..." she trailed off, unable to actually speak the words for fear that she was somehow wrong, even though she knew she wasn't.

"I have bided my time looking always towards this day, Kagome – to speak my heart to you and seek your own in return. When Yue attacked you, she broke the agreement with my mother, and with Ginkoutaishii as my heir, no one will question my choice of new mate on her death – ostensibly human as you are, or not. For sixty years I have watched you from afar, wishing things could have been different, and now there is no more need for me to do so, if you will but have me," he finished softly, watching her carefully.

Kagome was so stunned that the one thing she had wanted for so long, and never, ever thought to receive was being offered to her, that she just stared at him, her eyes lost. "I... I don't understand," she finally said weakly, so afraid to believe it. "You... you can't be serious, Sesshoumaru – you don't like humans. I've always known this. Why would you say something like this?" she asked, her eyes bewildered.

Sesshoumaru's own eyes softened on her as he took in her state of high disbelief – and admitted that it was his fault she would be so unable to accept his words. "I am very serious, Kagome – but I understand your confusion. It is true, I do not care for most humans," he said. "And you surely can understand why. Taken as a species, the bad outweighs the good. But... as my father tried to teach me, there are some... that are worthy. And you are more worthy than any other - demon or human."

"I'm glad that you think so, Sesshoumaru – but even more than your dislike of humans in general, is your dislike for the two joining together, especially when a child is borne of that union," she said, her voice low and sad. "Would you have me accept you, knowing that I could never have a child, and that if I did, you would hate it?"

Though her words hurt him, he understood why she was saying what she was saying, and he couldn't be angry at her. It was, after all, his own fault. And now, if he wanted her, as he did more and more with every passing day, he would have to convince her. He only hoped that he could.

He sighed, and let his mask drop, opening himself to her as he never had to another, even his son. Meeting her eyes with ones filled with uncertainty, he said, "I would never deny you a child, Kagome. And I could _never_ hate a child that you had given me. My previous beliefs... I was wrong. I admit it freely. I still dislike Inuyasha – but it is not for his blood, and it has not been in a long time. How long has it been since you have heard me insult him using his half blood status?" he asked. "Think back. After I received my arm back, and Bakusaiga, I never did again. Even before that time – after he triumphed in the meidou when I tested him one last time to see if he was truly worthy of all of what should have been Tessaiga's power, I never taunted him about his blood again. He had proved that even a half blood could be truly powerful."

She thought about it, really wanting to believe what he was saying. "No, I guess you didn't," she said slowly, meeting his gaze and plumbing the depths of his eyes with her own hopeful yet fearful ones. "Do you really mean it?" she asked hopefully once more, needing to hear it one more time.

"One thing that I have never been is a liar. I do not say what I do not mean. You know this," he whispered as he moved closer to her and cupped her cheek in his large swordsman's hand. His heart was beating faster every moment he was in that hut with her, for she was not denying him out of any lack of feeling for him, merely fear of his previous beliefs. It made him hope, and wonder... "What are your thoughts on this, Kagome? You do not out and out deny me..." he trailed off, still letting his uncertainty show. Already, he was comfortable with her seeing him as he truly was, his uncertainties, even his fears, because he knew that she would never use them against him, and one thing he had learned over all the lonely years he'd waited for his chance to have her, was that even he, the cold Lord, as so many had called him, needed at least one person who he could be himself with. He needed a companion, a _true_ mate... he needed _Kagome. _ The burdens that he carried were already beginning to feel lighter for the hope of being able to share them with her.

All his life he'd carried everything on his own shoulders with no one to stand by his side. For most of that time, he'd seen no need for such a thing, perfectly convinced that he would never be weak enough to need it. But... she had broken through his previous ignorance and taught him that he _did_ want another person in his life – he wanted her, and that he wasn't weak for it. Her pride, determination, indomitable will and unfaltering courage in the face of any and all odds spoke to him, spoke to who he truly was, and made him want that graceful spirit of hers near him always. Only she would ever see him this way, with all his defenses open wide and the true vulnerability that all living beings had at their core laid bare before her. Even his son would not see this much of him – for this bond, this oneness of spirit was only for mates. His son would one day find the female that would do the same for him, and Sesshoumaru swore to himself never to allow anyone to do to Ginkoutaishii what his mother had done to him. His son would not have to force himself to mate a female he despised.

Unable to meet his eyes any longer, hers fell closed as tears squeezed out of them, drawing crystalline paths down pale cheeks. "I..." she hesitated, a frown creasing her brow for a moment, until he moved his hand and used his thumb to massage the expression away, causing her eyes to snap open, "... I have always loved you," she finally confessed, her own heart laid bare before him in that moment as her fear of rejection faded in the face of his assurances. "Since well before Inuyasha disappeared with Kikyou," addressing the doubt she saw in his eyes. "That's why I never grieved after he left. Oh, sure, I was angry that he thought so little of us that he'd just up and go without even having the, well, pardon the expression, but the balls to tell us why he was leaving, or even say goodbye, but it didn't hurt as it would have when I first came here."

"Truly?" he searched her eyes, plumbing their depths with that oddly open gaze; it was so strange to see him acting thus that Kagome just had to ask...

"Yes, truly. But, Sesshoumaru... you aren't acting like, well, you. You don't show feelings and emotions and especially don't ever look anything more than perfectly convinced that whatever you desire will be what you receive. What's with the change?" she whispered, as though she were afraid that to speak any louder than that would once more harden him.

Dropping his hand from her face and sitting back, his eyes far away, he sighed, then looked at her again. "This is who I am, Kagome. Or, at least, a part of who I am. But it is a part of me that I can never allow anyone to see, because in my position, if I were to act as anything less than perfectly in control of every situation and ready to kill for any reason, I would be forced to constantly fight to maintain my place. But you... you I_ can _allow to see all of me as I can no other. Make no mistake," he said, his expression hardening, "I am perfectly willing to do anything I must to maintain my control of what is mine. And I feel no need to apologize for the fact that I will kill when I need to – just as I killed the three that kept me trapped in misery for decades just this very day. But... I am not all just a killing machine. I do have another side. And it would not do to hide myself from the one I would choose as my mate, for if you cannot look to your mate for comfort with the truth of who you are in your gaze and actions, then there is little reason to take one. I do not wish for another mating such as I had with that horrid bitch Yue."

After a moment of considering what he had said, she nodded her understanding of most of what he was saying. Though she would never be able to fully understand his deadly side, she knew that he had one, since _all_ youkai had that dark side. It did not deter her, nor did it change her love for him. "So... what is it you wish from me? Were I to agree, what would happen now?"

"That depends entirely on you. Do you wish for a long courtship?"

She thought about that, then shook her head. "No... not really. I already know my feelings, and I've lived with them for sixty years. I think I've waited long enough. I trust you to be certain of your own feelings, as well, so I see no need for one, unless it is what you wish."

He nodded. "I must confess, I am relieved you feel this way, for I, also, have waited for sixty years, and with little hope of ever being in this one moment with you. If you wished such a thing, I would try to give it to you, but... I could not guarantee that I could actually hold out for much longer. My desire for you has been growing for much longer than most youkai are forced to wait to mate their chosen females, and after all, though I have more control than any other, even I have my limits." He was looking at her much more warmly than he ever had before, and Kagome blushed, suddenly realizing just what that warm look was.

Passion.

"S-so then... where do we go from here?" she asked softly, her voice somewhat hesitant.

"Now, I make arrangements for you to move into my home," he returned just as softly. "That won't take but a day, at which point I bring some of my servants, and they will gather anything that you wish to take with you, and then-" his eyes darkened to the color of old gold, and he reached out and pulled her to him, "-we mate."

Kagome did not fight him; as she settled into his lap, she watched, spellbound, as his head lowered to hers. But the instant that his lips met hers, her eyes fell closed and she savored the feel of his soft, full lips against her own, not wanting to miss any of the sensations that he was evoking in her.

It was, after all, her first _true _kiss.

Yes, she'd kissed Inuyasha that time in Kaguya's castle, but that had been a mere press of lips in an attempt to call Inuyasha back from the female youkai's spell. And it had worked, though Kagome had always privately suspected it was because Inuyasha was simply caught up in the moment and had mistaken her lips for Kikyou's. While that had hurt at one time, now she simply didn't care – especially with Sesshoumaru asking for her to part her lips, his tongue leaving a sizzling feeling behind on her bottom lip as he trailed it slowly across.

The sensation caused her to inhale in surprise, and Sesshoumaru took full advantage as she opened to him, swallowing her gasp, her following moan, and even her breath. Sliding his tongue along hers, he tasted her slowly, his mind blown away by his first taste of the woman he'd wanted for so very long. Mint, herbs, and something that was just Kagome, she was everything he could have asked for and more, and as she followed his tongue back into his mouth and ran hers so sweetly around his fangs, he growled, once more taking over the kiss and chasing her tongue back into her mouth to curl his along her palette, before once more stroking hers. It was beautiful, it was perfect...

But it wasn't enough.

And so he pulled back, panting heavily, and attempted to regain his control once more. A kiss was not near enough, not when he'd waited for so long, but he could not take her – not yet. After all, she hadn't actually agreed to be his yet – she'd only asked what would happen if she _did_. On top of that, even if she said yes, which he was almost certain that she would, since she'd said she loved him, he still had to move her into his home. He would not take her here, in a little village hut like some peasant he was simply rutting for base relief. No... she was to be his Lady, the _true_ Lady of the West in a way Yue never had been, nor would ever have been allowed to be, and he would take her in what would, from the moment she agreed, be _their_ bed, in comfort with soft silks to cushion and caress her skin as he loved her.

With that determination, he calmed his breathing and his body, and once more met her eyes with a slight smile at the dazed look in hers – which he was certain was reciprocated in his.

"Will you honor me with an answer, Kagome? I have told you what I desire, what I have wanted for sixty years. All I need now is to hear your answer," he said, so softly it was almost a whisper.

One last time Kagome met his eyes with a searching look of her own, but in reality, she already knew what she would find there, just as she already knew her answer.

She blushed, but smiled shyly, her eyes sparkling with soft vulnerability up at the daiyoukai. "I would be honored, Sesshoumaru, to give myself to you."

~oOo~

A/N: No, I didn't forget Yue's father, you'll find out what happened with him in a later chapter. And no, this won't be a long story – originally, it was supposed to be a one shot, but it just got too long for that, so I decided to make it a short chapter story, instead. It's not an action adventure or anything else, so don't get your hopes up – it's just a short angst romance drama thing. There will be about five or six chapters to this story.

Also, since I will be posting it fairly quickly since I have it mostly finished, I probably won't have time to answer the individual reviews. But I do read every one and thank you all most deeply for the time you take to write them. It's just that I get so many reviews, that I wouldn't have time to write any of the story if I replied to every review.

Happy New Year!

Amber


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Sesshoumaru's eyes fell closed, and inwardly, a part of himself that had been tight with tension eased and he was able to breathe much easier as he accepted Kagome's answer to his most important question.

But still... a faint frown furrowed his brow as his mind fought back against the joy, and he wondered if he was so used to disappointment that he could no longer just accept the happiness without suspicion.

"Forgive me if I seem... cautious," he finally breathed, opening intense golden eyes to stare into hers. "But it seems strange to this one that you would just accept what happened earlier this day – what I did to Yue, and the other two, so easily, and then accept me as a mate with no fear or trepidation," he said, though it was really a question.

Kagome heard it loud and clear, and knew exactly what he was asking. She sighed, then shrugged. "I'm not sure _I_ understand the answer to that, let alone be able to explain it to you, but I'll try. I guess... it does bother me some, knowing... that you, you know, killed them all. And I feel strange in a way to be basically getting ready to step right behind your former mate into those same shoes. But... I know that I love you. I have for sixty years, and that's not going to change at this late date. I know what you are, Sesshoumaru – you are youkai, and youkai see these matters differently. I accept that you are youkai, so I suppose I'm saying that I accept that things will sometimes be incomprehensible to me – the differences in how we view things, I mean." She smiled awkwardly, then. "I just hope I never do anything to make you want to kill me."

He scowled at that, the very thought anathema to him. He would never be able to harm her. "It would never happen, Kagome. I also know what you are. You are human, and I know that some things you do not see the same way. But the kind of being that you are is different than anything I've ever known, and I... honestly do not think it is even possible for anyone to get angry enough at you to kill you – unless it is someone with an evil soul that you are opposing, like Naraku. If even I, with my hatred of humans, could not hate you, then how could anyone else?" he asked rhetorically with an ironic smile at the truth of it. Even he... could not help but to fall at her feet. He would never be able to raise a hand to her, and he let her know the truth of that bluntly, speaking openly about his inuyoukai heart.

"Inu do not ever harm the ones they've chosen to protect. We cannot. Yue... I despised her before my mother ever tried her hand at blackmailing me – she was much like the other youkai bitches in the court, after my wealth and the title, and little else. She was also a whore – and I would never have chosen her. She would never have had my protection, as you always have."

Blinking in surprise, she asked blankly, "A... whore? You keep saying that..."

"I cannot _count _the males she bedded before I was forced to breed her. And because of that, she had an exaggerated idea of her worth. She thought that because so many males clamored to bed her, I would also." He snorted. "I have never had any use for females like her, and there are far too many of them." His eyes softened again as they landed on her. "You... are nothing like any of them, and I can only be thankful that it is so."

She flushed, pleased, and a bit relieved to hear that Yue's fate wouldn't somehow end up being hers. He had chosen her, and because of that, would never be able to harm her. The difference between she and the former Lady, was just that – choice. And then she almost smacked herself for even thinking in such a way – why would he harm her – he who had given his life over to live in a manner he hated, cold and alone with a female he despised... and all to keep_ her _safe. She felt terribly for him in that moment, forced to coexist with someone he'd obviously hated, and apparently with good reason, as the woman's own son also concurred, saying that she'd had no redeeming qualities at all. She'd heard the loneliness in his voice when he'd spoken of living that life, and she decided then and there to make sure the rest of his life was entirely different.

Leaning over, she met his gaze with her own also open and vulnerable, allowing him to see all of her, just as he'd allowed her to see all of him, and then her eyes fell closed as she kissed him softly, innocently, nipping his lip gently before drawing back.

"You gave up so much of your life to make sure I was safe," she whispered, tears in her eyes as she really allowed herself to contemplate what he'd been through, all for her. "I could never repay what you've done for me, but I promise you, Sesshoumaru – you will never have to suffer alone again. For as long as you want me, I will be by your side, and the only way I will ever leave you is if you tell me to go yourself," she vowed. Without even having to look down, she reached for the slender knife she had set near the fire earlier in the day and made a swift cut in her palm with it, smiling a little at Sesshoumaru's hiss and distressed expression.

Letting her blood pool in her hand for several seconds, she picked up one of his hands and caressed it open with her other one, and then tilted her blood into his palm. "With this blood, I offer myself to you, Sesshoumaru, binding myself to you until you no longer desire my presence," she intoned solemnly, the air echoing with gathering power as she basically gave herself entirely into his hands, binding herself to him and sealing that bond with magic of the strongest kind.

It was a powerful, unbreakable vow, at least for her – she was bound to him until and unless he chose to let her go. Only he could break this vow if he repudiated her.

But he had no intentions of doing so, and with an intense, almost fierce expression, he allowed her blood to actually sink into his skin, his youki making the magic of the reciprocal vow merge her blood with his own – becoming part of him, part of his very flesh and bones and merging their very souls together. "From this day forth, we are one, blessed, bonded, never to be separated, just as our blood now is."

Kagome's eyes had widened impossibly as he'd taken her blood within himself – she hadn't expected him to go that far. That was the ultimate form of that particular vow – it was a magical bond, giving your blood freely to another was the strongest tie that one could give to another, because the one receiving the pledge was the only one that could ever break it and free the one making it. Most of the time, the blood would be consumed, showing the dominance of the one taking the pledge and the submission of the one giving it, and that was what she'd truly thought he was going to do. Instead, he'd done the unthinkable – he'd bonded them to _each other. _When the blood was actually taken into the person's body in such a manner, it bound the two together as _equals,_ rather than one being dominant over the other. Kagome'd learned enough over the years of youkai and mating bonds to know that what he'd just done was even more powerful, and closer, than what a plain youkai mating bond was even capable of.

He had refused to dominate her, refused to have an out, a way of getting away from her if he later decided he no longer wanted her. He was hers forever now, just as she was his. Tears ran down her cheeks and she took her now healed palm and cupped his cheek with it, love shining in her eyes.

"I love you, Sesshoumaru," she choked, unable to speak clearly through the emotion clogging her throat. "I will ready myself and let the village elders know that I will be leaving them." She let out a damp little laugh that made his heart catch. "It's a good thing that my apprentice healer is pretty much fully trained already, ne?"

"Yes," he sighed, the feel of the bond that now existed between them so very welcome to him after having to wait for so many years. He was almost reluctant to believe that the wait was finally over, that this wasn't just another dream that he would soon wake from, still empty, still cold, and still so damnably alone. Everything had changed in one single day, his entire life lifted from the hell it had been in for such a long span of time – and all with no warning. There had been some days, some _times_ when even his indomitable will had faltered, and he'd wondered whether he would ever escape from the trap his mother had snared him in.

But he had persevered, and now, all that which he had wanted was his for the taking – as long as he got moving so that he could have his home prepared for her arrival. Reluctantly, he separated from her and stood, pulsing his aura for his son and watching with hungry eyes as Kagome also stood.

"I must take my leave of you so that I may make ready your new home," he explained at her inquiring glance. "The sooner that is done, the sooner we may finally be joined as one." He smiled briefly at her blush, and then his usual mask fell back over his face as his son, followed by Shippo and Inuyasha, whose hackles were clearly up, entered the small living space.

"When should I expect your servants?" she asked, ignoring their company and focusing only on Sesshoumaru.

"When can you be ready?" he questioned in return.

"Is noon tomorrow soon enough?"

He inclined his head regally and said, "I will accompany my servants and we will arrive at noon, then. Until then, Kagome," formally, and at her nod of acceptance, he motioned for his son to follow and turned on his heel, sweeping regally from the hut. No one seeing him in that moment would have ever believed that he had an emotional, even vulnerable side that he had actually allowed Kagome to see, for he looked completely invulnerable and emotionless as he walked away. He paused at the lintel and said warningly, "Do not cause the miko any problems, Inuyasha, or you _will_ pay," before he disappeared with his son in tow, leaving a thick silence behind in the small abode.

"What the hell was that supposed to mean?!" the hanyou snarled acerbically after a moment. "And why are you expecting his servants, wench?"

Kagome, suddenly left trying to take in the complete turnaround in her life and circumstances in one amazing evening, ignored his demanding question and met Shippo's oddly knowing gaze. Despite the fact that she'd never really told him of her feelings for Sesshoumaru, he was very perceptive, and was well aware of where her heart lay.

He'd never expected that her feelings would be reciprocated, which was why he'd never brought the subject up, believing that it would hurt Kagome more to speak of something so impossible, and as much as he loved her, seeing her as his mother, he didn't ever want to do anything to hurt her. But what he'd just heard sounded very encouraging...

"What's going on, mama?" he asked gently, also ignoring the sputtering demands of the hanyou.

"Sesshoumaru..." she trailed off on a flush, her hands fluttering up to lay over her heart, "he... he asked me to be his mate, and I agreed. His servants will be coming tomorrow to move my belongings to his home," she finally managed to get out breathlessly, her cheeks rosy and her eyes sparkling with a joy that hadn't been evident in them for more years than the kitsune could even count.

Before Shippo could say anything in return, Inuyasha's incredulous voice broke in.

"What?! You've gotta be kidding me!" he shouted, glaring at her. "What the hell did I walk in on, eh? It's Sesshoumaru! How could you agree to be with that bastard? I come back to you, only to watch you bend over for that prick?"

And suddenly, Inuyasha's real reasons for returning became clear to both Shippo and Kagome, and she stared at him, aghast at his sheer arrogance, even as Shippo looked ready to beat the hanyou to within an inch of his life.

"So that's your game, is it, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, a cynical expression settling on her fair features after a moment. "Kikyou died, so you thought you'd come back and take up with me. You seriously thought I'd just take you back after you abandoned me and disappeared for _sixty years_? Who the hell do you think you are, anyway?!" she demanded, extremely insulted.

"Keh!" the hanyou flushed unbecomingly, looking away guiltily. "I didn't stay with Kikyou because I wanted to, I stayed because I owed her! Why's it so wrong that now she's dead I came back hoping to find my own happiness?"

"Oh, please, Inuyasha," Kagome scoffed, not believing one word of his excuse. "I'm not that stupid. You really _did_ think I'd been pining over you for all these years, and that you could just waltz back in and I'd fall all over myself to be with you," she snapped, hands on her hips as she cut loose and slammed him with a few home truths as Shippo watched on, enjoying every moment of it. "Let me tell you something, baka. By the time you ditched me for Kikyou, I didn't even care anymore. I haven't spent_ one second_ of the last sixty years missing you. I had feelings for Sesshoumaru even before you ran off with that floozy in the clay body, and I _jumped_ at the chance to be his mate when he asked me. So you can just take yourself off and find some other fool to manipulate, because it won't be me!"

Inuyasha's eyes were bugging out in a particularly unattractive manner by the time she'd finished speaking, and Shippo clasped a hand over the now shorter hanyou's shoulder and dragged him from his adoptive mother's hut before he could cause any more of a scene. "Get over it, bakayasha. You lost mama a long time ago through your own stupidity, and now she's got the chance to finally be happy. I'm not about to let you mess that up," he said, his manner suddenly changing from lighthearted prankster to dangerous opponent as he glared down at Inuyasha after tossing him to the ground outside her hut. "I'm not the little 'runt' I used to be, so if you want to get frisky, I'll be glad to take you on, Inuyasha. If you do anything to cause mama any grief, I'll make you pay for it in blood. And of course, so will your brother."

Clamping his mouth shut in surprise, Inuyasha stared at the suddenly much taller and more powerful kitsune like he'd never seen him before – and really, he hadn't. This wasn't the little kit he'd used to bully back in Naraku's day – this was a pretty much grown, strong youkai male in the prime of his life and confident in his strength and power. Sullenly, he flipped the male a rude gesture as he climbed to his feet and slouched off.

"Feh! I don't need to stay around and take this shit from you _or_ her. If you don't want me around, then fine. But she's gonna regret mating that icy bastard, just you wait and see. He'll get tired of her within a lunar cycle, and then she'll be nothing more than another one of that prick's cast-offs," he sniped before disappearing out the gates of the village, fading back into the darkness of the near moonless night.

Shippo watched after him with narrowed eyes for a few minutes, then turned and went back to Kagome's hut, a pleased smile breaking out over his face that she was finally getting her chance.

Inuyasha might have been too self-centered to notice anything not directly related to his own desires, but he wasn't so blind, and he'd felt quite strongly the very powerful binding magic still sizzling in the air of Kagome's little home.

Inuyasha could think what he liked, but Kagome wouldn't be getting away from the daiyoukai at all...

Not even in the afterlife.

He grinned.

At least one of the sons of the Inu no Taisho recognized a good thing when he saw it.

~oOo~

Both Kagome and Sesshoumaru found it hard to sleep that night, so many thoughts and emotions and even excitement keeping their minds whirling. Everything, their entire lives, had changed in the blink of an eye, and both felt the turmoil deeply as they tried to take it all in.

Finally giving up sleeping with a sigh, Kagome sat up on her small futon and reached for her yukata, wrapping herself in it before slipping out of her hut quietly so as not to wake the sleeping Shippo. She made her silent way out of the village, just one more shadow among a nighttime world of them.

_It's all happened so fast, _she thought, her mind running over the events of the day before, a sense of disbelief still plaguing her. _It almost seems as though it were all a dream..._

But there was no way she could really make that mistake, because the bond that now existed between them hummed with life, and she could still feel his presence as though he were standing right next to her. It was comforting and exciting, all at the same time.

She wasn't so lost in her thoughts, however, that she missed the feel of the presence of another out and about in the depths of the night. She sighed, knowing that she had to face him – he was an intrinsic part of her past, and she needed to deal with that before moving on to her future.

"I know you're there, Inuyasha, so you may as well come out," she said coolly, not bothering to turn around when he landed on the ground behind her, the small 'thump' of his landing sending a rabbit scurrying into the underbrush in fear. She waited silently for him to speak.

"You didn't mean it, earlier, when you said that you didn't care that I left with Kikyou," he said quietly, watching her carefully. "You only said that to strike at me and pay me back for leaving."

A breeze swept past Kagome, sending her scent straight into Inuyasha's nose, and he closed his eyes, inhaling deeply.

He almost missed her chuckle. "Think what you want, Inuyasha – you always do, anyway. You've always been good at hiding from the truth."

Anger started to creep into his voice, then. "So now you hate me, is that it, Kagome? I followed Kikyou and discharged my debt to her in the only honorable way I could, and because of that, you're going to make me pay by going with Sesshoumaru?" he said accusingly, determined to believe that she was simply trying to 'punish' him for leaving with the older miko so long ago.

She turned her head and looked at him over her shoulder, her face calm. "I don't hate you, Inuyasha. But I don't love you, either. You made your choices, whatever your reasons were, and I made mine. You took care of Kikyou and even stayed with her in her decline, and that was honorable of you. But you have a lot of nerve to show up here, now, and expect me to welcome you back into my life, and even into my bed. I am no one's substitute, and I won't let you use me as one. Kikyou is gone, now, and you can finally find your future instead of being bound to your past – but that future won't have me at its center."

It was silent for a few moments and then he said, "So... then, this is it? This is really goodbye?" his voice sounding hollow and almost afraid.

Sighing, Kagome turned her head away again, then shook it sadly. "Inuyasha, you said goodbye with your actions over sixty years ago. It's just that it's taken you this long to realize what you did. If you want to remain friends, then that's fine, but as for anything else – yes, this is it."

Chagrined, the hanyou watched Kagome's silhouette disappear into the scraggly trees ahead with sad understanding. She was right. He'd been living in a dreamworld thinking that he could just come back and take right up where he'd left off. He hadn't missed what she'd said earlier – about having already had feelings for his half-brother before he'd even left. It was a clear sign that she'd already known somewhere inside that he _would_ be leaving, and so had moved on without him.

The truth was, they'd both left _each other_ - a long, long time ago. But there was one more thing he needed to do – something he had to know before he let go of Kagome completely. He faded back into the forest, and headed west.

Oddly enough, that short encounter with the hanyou of her past had actually calmed Kagome's thoughts, and so she headed back to her home, finally ready to get some sleep.

After all, tomorrow would be a very big day – a very long day, and a lot would be happening. She needed to get enough sleep to face all the huge changes that one day would be bringing her way.

~oOo~

Sesshoumaru woke early, watching the morning dawn on what he was absolutely certain was destined to be the most perfect day of his long life. He sat up slowly and leaned back against the wall, laying one arm over his bent knee as the silk sheets draped artfully around him, and stared with pensive golden eyes out his exterior doors, open to let in the cool night breezes and that were now an elegant frame for the golden skies that lay beyond them. The colors of the sunrise were more brilliant than he could ever remember seeing, and he knew that this was a day he would never forget – no matter what happened from here on out in his life, or how many millenia came and went, this day would be preserved in all its perfection in his memory. He would cherish it.

His lips parted slightly and a flush of heat touched his cheeks as he relived his first kiss with the female he'd craved for so long, her perfect taste echoing along his tongue. His fingers tingled with remembrance of her soft-as-silk skin, and they twitched, longing to touch her again, even as his lips parted further, wishing to taste her again.

_Just a little longer, and my wait will finally be over. The one day I had almost lost hope would ever come has finally arrived, and these last marks until she joins me here in my home seem like an insurmountable obstacle, _he sighed. And indeed, they did. All the time to come until noon seemed to stretch away before him endlessly, and he sighed, looking down at his crook'd fingers, wanting nothing more than for the day to pass quickly so that he could finally see the oft-dreamed sight of Kagome laid out over his bedding, warm and wanton and willing, waiting for him to teach her the ways of passion.

He was not an inexperienced male by any means, though he had never been a promiscuous sort, as had some other inuyoukai – like Yue. No... while he had had a few lovers through his life, he hadn't had many, and hadn't had one in over sixty years – for when he realized what his deeply buried heart was trying to tell him about the seemingly unremarkable human onna that traveled at his half-brother's side, he had retired his mistress and abstained from any sexual contact whatsoever in preparation for seeking her as his lifemate.

And then his mother had intervened.

Oh, how he'd hated her, his hate choking him with bile that cursed day she'd forced his hand. It had been the most difficult, distasteful thing he'd ever had to do, breeding that disgusting bitch his mother had foisted off on him. If it weren't for fantasizing, he would never have been able to even do the deed – he'd kept his eyes closed the entire time, and dreamed that it was Kagome there before him.

He'd never been so close to broken as when he'd realized that he would never have her in the way he wished, could only ever fantasize, that he would be forced to watch her wither and die, never to see her again while living endless cold, lonely centuries tied to a scheming bitch like Yue. He'd found, in those bitter moments, that he finally understood his father completely – understood why he'd taken Izayoi as his mistress. After all, he'd been tied to a heinous bitch, just as he, himself was, and Izayoi had given him the love and comfort he'd craved. It must have been painful for him, the thought that he'd be forced to watch her fade and die, unable to properly mate her since he was already bound to someone else – someone he despised.

In the end, it hadn't mattered, of course, since he had actually died first, but Sesshoumaru found only sympathy for his father and that distant past in that moment as he sat there and contemplated his own desires. _Like my father before me, I craved something supposedly forbidden to my kind – and yet... the kami have blessed me, giving me the chance to make my life different from my father's. My fate will not play out the same way as his, and neither will Kagome's fate echo Izayoi's._

_She will be my mate, and any that question my choice will die by my hand. I have done my duty to my lands and given them Ginkoutaishii as my heir – my choices are now my own and I will not let anyone else dictate to me who I choose to share my life with ever again._

He had already called his people together, yesterday when he'd arrived home, and with his son by his side, announced that Yue was now dead and that he would be mating an ostensibly human woman. The silence had been palpable, and he'd continued, challenging anyone that disliked his choice to single combat.

Not one person had accepted his offer, and he'd let it be known in no uncertain terms that anyone that tried to strike at his mate would not have the chance to blink before they were dead. A dark smirk tilted one corner of his mouth as he remembered the thick haze of fear that had erupted from all those there, satisfaction calming his excitable blood. Word had already gone out to those who hadn't witnessed what he'd done to Yue, his mother, and Yue's father, their fates being widely spoken of already, and no one wanted to bring the same down on themselves.

His smirk deepened as he remembered and even savored the fear that had only grown when he'd told them just who it was that he would be mating. Kagome was well known by most youkai as the Shikon miko, and while it was known that she was a peaceful person, not liking to harm others, it was also known that she was most powerful, and that if pressed, she would most definitely have enough strength to purify her attackers into little more than dust.

Blinking eyes that had been set on the past for the last little while, Sesshoumaru focused once more on the beautiful morning deepening in slow increments as he stretched and rose gracefully from his bed. He still had things to accomplish before noon, and he could hear the servants already following the instructions he'd given the night before, bringing the tansu and wardrobes he'd hand-picked for Kagome so that they could be placed in his room for her.

Beckoning the servants in, he let them go about their business while he entered his private bathing room and prepared himself for the day ahead. He could feel Kagome's excitement through the bond, and it was feeding his own. With both their desires egging him on, it was not surprising that he washed quickly, though no less meticulously than he always did.

Finally, washed, dried, and dressed in his finest and most immaculate attire, Sesshoumaru left his rooms, ready to face the day...

The most important and highly anticipated day of his entire life.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Kagome also woke early, just after sunrise, surprisingly feeling energetic and rested despite her restlessness of the evening before. She was also nervous and filled with anticipation.

Taking a few minutes to simply sit in the cool, shadowed air of her personal room, she closed her eyes and centered herself, breathing deeply in a calm, rhythmic manner in an attempt to calm her jangling nerves.

It took a few, but it finally worked, at least to an extent, and with a slight sigh, she pushed back her blankets and rolled out of her futon, too much to do to be ready to linger over her meditation.

She had already packed most of her belongings the previous night, but she still had to meet with the village headman and her apprentice healer to inform them of her departure. By the time Sesshoumaru had left last night, most of the villagers had already sought their beds, leaving her unable to notify anyone until this morning.

Gathering her bathing accoutrements, she hurried through the cool, crisp morning air to the bathhouse, knowing that it would be empty at this early hour, though not for much longer. With little time for soaking, she washed thoroughly but quickly, using extra of her homemade herbal soaps in her hair so that it would leave it soft, fragrant, and easily manageable. She wanted to look and smell her best, of course, especially today of all days.

She finished just as the first couple of women arrived to bathe, and with easy greetings, she left, hurrying back towards the hut that she'd called home for over sixty years, though now would no longer.

_Who should I bequeath it to? _she wondered, just now having thought of that. _Since Shippo and Kirara will be coming with me... oh, dear, I didn't think to talk to Sesshoumaru about that. I hope he doesn't get angry with having an extra person and a neko added to his household, _she worried, not sure what he would think of the whole thing. But Shippo was like her son, and she wasn't willing to leave him behind, and Kirara was family, too. Where she went, they went, they'd already decided that years ago when Shippo had told her that he would not want to be separated from her, and Kirara had let it be known that she would stay with the last of her companions after Sango's passing.

Of course, someday Shippo would take a mate and make a life for himself, but until then, they were a package deal, and she didn't think Sesshoumaru had thought of that.

After a few minutes spent worrying, however, she finally brushed the concern away – there was little point in thinking about it. She'd just have to talk to Sesshoumaru when he and his servants arrived.

_I suppose I can leave my hut to Sango's daughter Michi – she has such a large family that the several rooms of my hut will come in handy for her. She and her husband were already speaking of having to build a larger hut, so this will really help them out. I'll send Shippo over to her house to make the offer, _she decided, nodding. _Yes, that's the best route. They need the room more than anyone else in the village. As for my cookware... I daresay I won't be needing any of that with Sesshoumaru, since he has his own cooks and everything, so I can give those to Suzumi – they will come in handy for her as the new village healer. She'll have a lot of herbal concoctions to cook up, after all, besides her own food._

With the disposal of the things that she wouldn't be needing any longer decided to her satisfaction, she chivied Shippo into finishing his packing and then sent him off to speak to Michi and offer her the hut, and she went to the village headman's hut, the oldest son of Sango and Miroku, and informed him of her coming mating and departure from the village.

While saddened, nonetheless, he was happy for Kagome. He well remembered his mother's wishes that her best friend would find someone to love her, and her worry, even on her deathbed, for her friend. And being who he was, the fact that she'd found that love with a youkai, a Lord, even, a daiyoukai, didn't bother him – he was pleased, and he knew his parents would be, too, wherever they were. When she told him of her wishes in passing on her property, he was in agreement that his sister could most definitely use the room.

Heaping blessings on her and wishes for her eternal happiness, he watched her walk away, knowing that what was happening was for the best, despite his sadness in seeing her go. After all, she was not a normal human, with her endless life span, and in order to be completely happy, she needed to be with those that were outside of time's control just as much as she was. Her chosen mate was the most powerful being in the land, and he would take care of her, it was certain. Seidai smiled a little sadly as he watched her disappear back into her hut, and sighed. It wasn't going to be the same around here ever again, he realized. There was just something about Kagome that livened anyplace she happened to be. Sesshoumaru's gain was most definitely their loss.

She would be seriously missed.

By the time noon was finally closing in, Kagome was ready, and in a state of high nervousness. She could feel Sesshoumaru through their bond, and knew he was already on his way, which didn't surprise her one little bit – Sesshoumaru was always a most precise and punctual being, and she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that since he had said he would arrive at midday, he would appear at midday – and not a second later.

By that time the word of her betrothal, coming mating, and imminent departure had spread through the whole village, and almost everyone had gathered near the hut she had called home for so long to watch the goings on and say their goodbyes to the well-loved miko.

Sesshoumaru was a little surprised to be greeted by an entire village on his arrival to escort his soon-to-be mate to her new home, but brushed the inconvenience aside; after all, she had lived there for sixty years and had formed many lasting friendships with the people there, so he could hardly begrudge them all coming out to see her off.

The villagers all backed away respectfully when he landed with several servants and Ah-Uhn in tow, and he approached Kagome slowly as she stood up, her fingers twisting nervously – a fact which his sharp eyes did not miss, not that he could have missed her nervousness, anyway, what with the bond that already lay between them.

"You have gathered everything you wish to bring with you?" he asked her softly once he reached her, allowing his aura to gently brush against hers and calm her.

She took a deep breath, held it, and then released, allowing a great deal of her tension to dissipate with her expelled breath and his aura's deft touches against hers. After a moment's silence, she nodded. "Yes. Everything that is near the entrance I'm bringing with me. But Sesshoumaru," she added as he motioned for the servants, who had heard her words to begin gathering her belongings, "you do know that where I go, Shippo and Kirara go, as well?"

Returning his gaze to Kagome, he inclined his head regally, his manner formal because of their extended audience. "I am aware of this, Kagome, my servants have readied a room for the kitsune, and the neko may rest where she wills. But I will not allow anyone in my home to be idle," he warned her. "The kit will begin training with me in the dojo in two days."

Kagome, relieved that he wasn't upset about having her companions with them, smiled. "I daresay he will enjoy that. He's not an idle sort, you know. Shippo always trains himself, and I think he will be grateful to train with you."

Sesshoumaru nodded, and then they waited silently for his servants to finish loading her belongings on Ah-Uhn, although the one piece of furniture she was bringing, a hand-carved, beautiful tansu made of sakura wood that held her clothing, would be carried between two of the servants on the return flight. It didn't take long for her belongings to be loaded, and then it was time for her to say her final goodbyes.

Tears were already sliding down many of the cheeks there, especially Sango and Miroku's children. After all, she was family, and had actually helped deliver most of them when they had been born, as well as assisted at their own children's births. She was intimately entwined with many of them, and they were all feeling the loss.

So was she.

With tears in her own eyes, she hugged all those she considered her family, encouraging words given to all to help ease her departure.

"Don't think this is goodbye forever, everyone! I will always return to visit and check up on you all! And if something happens and I'm needed, you know where the Western Palace is, simply send a messenger – I'll come as quick as I may," she consoled the group, a cheerful smile on her face despite the tears.

"Indeed. I will extend my protection to your village, as well," Sesshoumaru said then, to everyone's surprise. "Should you be attacked or have need," he continued, beckoning the headman over and handing him a small, oddly engraved stone, "simply allow a drop of water to touch this stone, and we will be warned of your need. It will take but minutes for assistance to arrive."

Seidai, completely stunned, merely clenched the stone carefully in his hands and nodded, bowing to Sesshoumaru. After a few seconds to gather his thoughts, he thanked the daiyoukai formally even as Kagome also added her own heartfelt thanks to him for his offer of protecting those she cared for.

With that done, Sesshoumaru turned to her and asked if she was ready to depart, and she nodded. Without another word, he wrapped his arm around her and began to form his cloud beneath their feet, though he moved more slowly than usual to accommodate not only the servants but Kirara, who was carrying Shippo.

Even at that slower pace, however, it was only moments before the village was out of sight, and Kagome shivered. Immediately, Sesshoumaru looked down at her, his eyes softening just a little, due to the fact that they were still not alone, though their audience was greatly reduced. "Are you cold?" he asked solicitously, tightening his grip around her waist.

She shook her head. "No. It's just... a lot to take in. Everything has changed between yesterday and today. It almost seems unreal," she admitted. "Like a dream."

"Hn. To me, as well. Were it not for the bond between us, I would also think this merely another dream," he murmured in return, keeping his voice down so no one else could overhear what he clearly wanted kept private. "One of many I have had over the years," he admitted softly.

"Sesshoumaru," she said, and then hesitated, even as he looked at her enquiringly. When he prodded her to continue, she asked, "Did you already tell your people about me? I mean... do they know what to expect, or should I be prepared for a lot of surprise and... and anger?" obviously worried about what to expect at her new home.

He was pleased to be able to set her mind at ease. "I announced our forthcoming union as soon as I returned home last night, Kagome, do not be concerned. No one will dare to touch you for fear of my wrath – and your own. You are well known as the Shikon miko, and most would not dare tempt your power. I believe the only one who is even angry at all is the male that Yue was currently keeping company with," he stated, his voice going cynical and almost coldly amused.

Kagome gasped. "You... you mean, she was sleeping with someone else?" she asked, astounded that apparently the female was cheating on her mate – and he didn't even appear to care.

"Better someone else than me," he replied, almost shuddering at the mere thought of once more touching that bitch. "I would never be able to bring myself to touch her again – the once was more than I could stand. I have no desire for anyone that is not you. And besides, I told you she was a whore, did I not?"

"Y-yes," she said, blushing, still looking up at him with surprised, though pleased, eyes at his avowal of desire for her alone. "But even though you, you know, seemed to hate her, I still thought you'd be, I don't know, more possessive in the sense that you wouldn't want your mate to... to betray you with some other male."

He snorted. "It was a measure of my disdain for her that I did not care, you are correct. Normally, such a thing would have engendered rage in me, in any youkai male. But the fact that I did not even care that others used her showed to all youkai how much hatred I had for her. It was a mark of shame, truly, in the eyes of the youkai world, denoting her complete worthlessness to me."

"Oh," she breathed, not knowing what else to say to that.

His eyes burned with warning, then. "My reaction would not be the same were you to do so, Kagome. I would destroy anyone who tried to come between us."

She blinked, nonplussed for a minute, but then, "Hey!" she retorted indignantly, once what he was intimating caught up to her. "I'm no cheat! I wouldn't do that to anyone, especially not someone I have feelings for."

"That is good, Kagome, for I will not share. As I will remain faithful to our bond, I expect the same courtesy in return," he said firmly. "It is good that we are in agreement on this score." He fell silent for some few minutes, but then asked, "Did Inuyasha cause you any trouble last night after I left?"

The change of topic caught her slightly off-guard despite the short silence, but then she shook her head, letting her mild annoyance at the former topic go. "Oh, no, not really. He didn't want to believe me when I told him that I had... cared for you for so long, but... he finally got it." She sighed, eyes going distant. "I told him that he'd said his goodbyes sixty years ago when he disappeared without a word, even if he didn't realize it, and that it was far too late for him to come back and expect anything but friendship from me. He didn't like it, but he had no choice but to accept it."

"Good," he nodded absently, his mind turning to other matters as the palace that was their destination came into view and he began flying lower in preparation for landing, followed by the servants, Ah-Uhn, and Shippo and Kirara.

It had been a long time since Kagome had seen the palace, and even then, she had only seen it from the outside – she'd never been inside. Inuyasha had pointed it out once on one of their shard hunts as they'd passed through Sesshoumaru's lands, and Kagome had been impressed even then. It was a beautiful palace and different from the average mansions that dotted the landscape of Sengoku Jidai in that it's owner and Lord was a daiyoukai of awesome power and even greater wealth.

The building was made of wood and trimmed with gold, and the roof tiles were made of semi-precious stones that glimmered in the crisp sunlight. The shoji at the entrance to the palace were beautifully decorated, obviously hand-painted by an artist of great skill, one who was probably youkai, because the scenes depicted were three-dimensional and actually glowed, keeping Kagome's eyes glued to them in awe as Sesshoumaru landed on the steps before a gathering of many youkai, completely bypassing the outer baileys of the castle.

It was that fascination that caused her to miss the raggedly familiar presence that stepped forward from amongst the gathered servants and confronted them loudly and aggressively. Shocked at his hardheadedness in the face of her words of the previous night and the fact that he had obviously traveled through the night to arrive here ahead of them, Kagome stared uncomprehendingly at Inuyasha as he approached them with caustic words.

"You have no business with Kagome," he growled, a low tone that rumbled almost sub-sonically in the air around them. "She deserves better than a cold, unfeeling and hateful bastard, Sesshoumaru."

Letting go of Kagome as his cloud touched down, he gently braced her until she found her feet, and then looked at his nuisance of a half-brother, an even lower growl following the hanyou's like the after-echo of thunder as he warned his brother without words that he would not tolerate interference in his life – not by anyone, not ever again.

"You have no say in this matter, Inuyasha. You are not her mate, nor her guardian. Kagome can speak for herself, and she has chosen to accept me." He smirked tauntingly after a moment of eyeing his brother's temperamental form. "She obviously feels that I am the better choice, and you are just angry that she turned you away."

That did it, just as he knew it would, it riled his half-sibling's always mercurial temper and loosened his tongue. "Oi!" Inuyasha snarled. "I thought you hated humans, you bastard! Why the hell d'ya want Kagome, eh? What could you possibly have found in her that attracted your dead ass?" he asked crudely, oblivious to the audience around them listening avidly.

He was taken aback and silenced by the answer, even as all the other gathered youkai in the courtyard watched breathlessly the confrontation between the two siblings. Oh, yes, they all knew who Inuyasha was – despite his crudity, he had proven his power, and many full-blooded youkai there knew they would be no match for the younger son of the Taisho. That engendered some little respect for the hanyou that he normally wouldn't have received – especially with his uncouth tongue.

Compared to him, Sesshoumaru's elegant figure and formally correct language was simply breathtaking, every last being all ears to hear his response to his brother's demanding questions.

"Her indomitable spirit, Inuyasha. Despite everything that you, Naraku, your undead miko, and even I put her through back during those days, she did not break. No matter what has come against her, she has always triumphed, always overcome, and it is_ that_ – that fiercely unbreakable will and spirit – that drew me to her. In no other being, ever, human or youkai, have I seen the same," he said, his flat stare not deviating from his brother's stunned one by an inch. "And it is that which I will always crave to have near me. If you wish to challenge me, then draw your sword and do so now, because I will not tolerate you interfering in my affairs – just as I will tolerate no interference from anyone else," he reiterated, raising his voice so it could be heard by all as his hand closed around the hilt of Bakusaiga. "Take the fates of Yue and her father, and even my scheming mother as the warning they are," he finished dangerously, once again growling deeply, a frightening, almost feral sound that everyone there understood implicitly as the threat it most certainly was.

Everyone gathered there except Inuyasha, Shippo and Kirara shivered at the reminder of the deaths the day before – while Yue had died outside the palace, and Satori had been killed in hers, Nobu, Yue's father, had been killed right there in the Western Palace in full view of everyone.

He'd seemed resigned the moment he'd caught sight of Sesshoumaru's wickedly grinning face, and had just submitted to his death with no fight and hadn't even said a word, having known since the day they'd forced the daiyoukai's hand that one day, he would take their lives in payment. Because of that, his death had been less gruesome than the others, and less drawn out – Sesshoumaru had merely finished him quickly and then left the servants to clean things up and dispose of his remains.

Nonetheless, the swift manner of his death and the reasons for it hadn't been lost on the inhabitants of the palace, nor those on his council, and so Sesshoumaru's reminder of said death the day before had many a being there in the courtyard paling with fear. His words were met with silence, even from Inuyasha, who was suddenly calm once more, eyeing him speculatively as Kagome stayed back and quiet, letting the two come to their own understanding.

"Keh," he said finally, allowing his aggressive stance to dissolve into his usual casual slouch. "I had to be sure. I didn't do right by her before, as she reminded me quite implicitly last night, an' I wanted to be certain you would treat her better." He shrugged and looked away uncomfortably as Kagome's eyes met his and softened on him. "Don't screw it up, Sesshoumaru, or you'll regret it, I promise."

With that, he leaped away, heading away from the palace with all speed, still upset that Sesshoumaru was getting what he'd thought he would now be able to have, but not willing to hurt the girl anymore. He'd hurt her plenty back in that distant past, and he just couldn't bring himself to do it again, now that he'd been forced to face his culpability. He had to let her go in order for her to be happy.

_Guilt seems to be quite the motivator for Inuyasha_, Sesshoumaru thought as he released his grip on his sword as his brother's presence diminished and the gathered youkai began drifting away to their differing pursuits. Soon, the only people left standing in the courtyard were those that had gone with Sesshoumaru to gather Kagome's belongings, and a very quiet and thoughtful Shippo holding a once again kitten sized Kirara.

Sesshoumaru directed the servants to take Kagome's things to his quarters, while another servant was called and showed Shippo his new room so that he could unpack himself and get comfortable, and once the courtyard was once again empty, he turned to look down at the woman who was now his with a pleased expression she couldn't miss.

He gestured towards a high-walled area with a small gate in it. "Would you like to see our private garden?" he asked, almost ready to purr with the pleasure of being able to say the word 'our' in reference to something being shared between them. Especially now that this was 'their' home, and not just his.

Since he'd killed Yue, yesterday, the whole palace felt different – for the first time in sixty years he was able to feel comfortable, and even happy, in his home again. He no longer felt trapped, unable to breathe, and life felt interesting and new again now that he was not only freed from the terrible bitch he'd been forcibly chained to, but actually was finally to be bound to the one he'd wanted to be bound to all along.

Life was finally good again, and he looked around their private gardens once more with pleasure for the first time in so many years as he led Kagome through the magical gate. His home was no longer a prison, but a home once more – a home he was sharing with the one who completed him and who he could share himself with without fear of betrayal.

Kagome looked around with wide eyes as Sesshoumaru led her through the fairly extensive private gardens, and then looked up at the palace, and noticed that there were no windows or doors that led out to this garden save one, which Sesshoumaru was quick to tell her was the door – and window - into what was now their shared quarters. When she asked about why there were no other windows facing out to it, he told her that it was because these gardens were completely private, and no one was allowed out there except two specially chosen gardeners at certain times when care of the garden was needed and he did not have the time himself, and he, and now she, themselves.

"You... you work on this garden?" she asked, wide-eyed. In some ways, it seemed so _not_ Sesshoumaru – and yet, if you looked deeper, it was completely him. The garden was done in the Zen style, and there was even a bonzai garden, beautifully formed miniature trees and well-placed rock paths making it quite the sight to see.

"Yes. It is particularly good for soothing ones mind and allowing one to settle ones thoughts," he replied. "Does this surprise you?"

"On first glance, yes, but after a second thought... no," she said in an odd tone of voice, one laden with discovery. She had just learned something new about Sesshoumaru.

A quick smirk flashed across his face before disappearing once more, and he led Kagome back in the direction of the gate, through the flowering section of the garden that lay closest to the palace.

"It allows the breezes to enter in the morning carrying the scents of the flowers," Sesshoumaru stated when Kagome questioned why the flowers were so close to the palace. She hadn't really taken him for a male interested in such a thing, but when he explained the scent association, she nodded. That made sense.

"Did Yue ever come here?" she asked after a moment. Maybe it was strange of her, but she wanted to know...

Sesshoumaru shot her a sharp look, then demurred. "No. I never allowed her into my areas of the palace. She had her wing, and the main palace garden area she could use if she wished, and she was kept there. I would not have her in my personal space, making my life worse than it already was."

"Oh," Kagome said, still continually surprised at his absolute hatred of his former mate. It was so... uncompromising. That female must have been something else for him to hate her so much. From what little she had seen of the female, she couldn't say she didn't understand his desire to stay far away from her, beautiful or not. She had been _very_ antagonistic.

And odd. She'd actually thought that killing off the object of Sesshoumaru's affections would then allow him to want her. But that was absolutely ridiculous, as she'd found out the hard – and fatal way - yesterday.

She looked around with interest at the grounds as Sesshoumaru led her back out to the main courtyard of the palace and then up to the huge main doors. She couldn't help but exclaim at the beautiful artistry that had gone into creating them, however, she was completely unprepared for Sesshoumaru's response to her wonder.

"Thank you," he murmured at her statement that the artist was a great talent. "It is something that I enjoy, though I do not often have time to paint," he added at her wide-eyed look of awe.

"You... you mean _you_ did these?" she gasped, totally caught off-guard at that revelation. She would have never taken Sesshoumaru for the artistic type – once again, on face value. But now that she thought about all that she had learned from him since yesterday, including his revelation of his rather sensitive side, she couldn't say that she was actually surprised. She could see him with the brushes and paints, using the creative process to rid himself of his frustrations over his mating and his feelings of being trapped. "No, never mind," she said, "on second thought, I'm not surprised."

He cocked a brow at her at that, then nodded faintly as he understood that everything she was learning of him and that she already knew was coming together, and that she was understanding him better and better as he spent more time in her company and actually opened up to her as he had not been able to do before.

"Come, then," he said, entering through the open doors. "I will escort you around the palace to show you your new home. It will probably take some time for you to remember where everything is, but the layout of the palace is fairly straightforward," he added. "You should be fine."

She nodded and simply continued looking around as they passed through the imposing entry and into the equally imposing greeting room. As they passed through more open doors, they stepped into a pillar lined walkway and walked along it for several moments before entering what was obviously the main reception room of the palace.

The gasp that came from her throat couldn't have been stopped if she'd tried, the impressive work of art that was this room showing the wealth and power of its owner to all those who entered its also hand-painted doors, a great inuyoukai howling at a crescent moon depicted on each one.

The room itself was designed to show those who came through its doors that they were definitely the supplicants, and Kagome craned her head around to take everything in. The main walkway was lined with pillars just as the hallway outside had been, though these were hand carved to look like sakura trees, the tops supporting the roof actually looking like the canopy of a forest rich with blossoming sakura blossoms. She'd never seen the like, and was absolutely stunned at the intricate details of the completely wooden forest lining the intricately laid wooden floor of the room.

"I've never seen anything like this," she whispered, just too stunned to talk any louder. "It's so beautiful."

"It is," Sesshoumaru replied softly in return. "It is meant to be that way."

"I know," Kagome returned absently, still busily looking around as they walked towards the dais at the end of the room, where an actual chair was placed, an elaborate affair that could almost be called a throne, but not quite.

Her attention was snared by Sesshoumaru again as he spoke. "There is another seat, one slightly smaller that was removed on my mating to that female, where my mate is supposed to sit. The servants are bringing it out of storage and cleaning it up. It is where you will sit during formal audiences." He looked down at her, then. "Unlike most males, I do not expect you to remain silent during those audiences. I wish to have your input – for after all, what other male has a female that not only knows the future, but has had such extensive scholarly training? I would not wish to waste such a valuable resource as you are, Kagome."

Now that was _not_ surprising, not with what she already knew of Sesshoumaru. He went his own way, and be damned the rules and strictures of the time. And he had always shown that he valued her opinion, the few times he'd asked her about certain questions that had been put to him, and that he was considering carefully. She was glad that he was so different from most males in this time – if he hadn't been, she didn't know if she could have been with him. She just wasn't the submissive type – mostly. She could practice discretion with the best of them, but she would never allow herself to be treated as a brainless and helpless woman that couldn't think for herself.

As they reached the dais, she turned to look at the view from the front of the room, and just sighed. It was beautiful. The pillar-lined walkway was framed on either side by differently patterned flooring from what lined the walkway, and there were many cushions scattered there, for people coming to petition Sesshoumaru to sit until it was their turn to have their cases heard. The cushions were in deep, jeweled tones, echoing the tiles of the roof which were also many colors of green and blue-hued semi-precious stones, although most of the cushions in here were richly hued reds, echoing the soft pinks of the sakura blossoms decorating the painted wooden forest that held up and braced the ceiling of the room in deeper tones.

"Wow," she finally said after taking it all in. "This is something else again. Absolutely beautiful."

Sesshoumaru inclined his head regally and then led her to the back of the dais and into an alcove behind the wall, obviously for Sesshoumaru to use to enter the room. They slipped through sturdy doors, and into the ante-chamber, a smaller, plain room simply meant for quick straightening of attire and preparing for the audiences.

He led her through that room without stopping, and as they stepped out the other doors, they found themselves in another pillar lined walkway, Sesshoumaru turning to the left as soon as he stepped out of the doors.

At the end of that walkway there was a set of stairs, and Sesshoumaru led her to them, Kagome following along willingly. As they hit the top of the stairs on the second story, they entered a hallway with many windows making it light and pleasant, and he walked easily along it to another turn towards the right, and then down another hallway to another set of great doors. Kagome, thinking of the layout of the palace, or what she'd already seen of it, realized that this room was over the great audience hall.

He pushed them open lightly, and led Kagome into a huge room with several long, low wooden tables lined by plump, soft looking cushions.

"This is the dining room, and all meals are usually taken here. I have not, though... not since my previous mating," he said with distaste evident in his voice. "But now that I am freed from my onerous chains, I will again take my meals in this room."

Kagome nodded, not having anything to say to that. "So where is Rin? I know you said she's here with her mate, and I'd like to see her. It's been so long, and she's the only other human that has an extended life like I have, though hers was gained from mating your General, I know. Still... it's someone that I can relate to."

Sesshoumaru was not surprised at her question. He'd told her of Rin's mating to his General many years ago, and she'd evinced a desire to see the girl even back then. But he just couldn't allow Kagome to come near the palace – not with Satori's threats, and not with Yue's nasty presence. He never wanted her pure heart tainted by their darknessess.

"Rin is most likely in the family wing of the palace, which is also where our rooms are. She has a sitting room she particularly loves there, and she can most often be found there, or in the private family gardens. I am sure you remember her extreme love of flowers," he said with an almost cynical twist of his lips. Rin was legendary for her adoration of flowers, and most of the time, she was outside gardening anytime the weather was decent enough for such endeavors. "I will take you there next," he finished.

"Okay," Kagome returned, a slight smile on her face at his tone. He almost sounded annoyed at the topic he'd been speaking of, but she knew better. He adored Rin and always had, raising her like his daughter. She knew he had been quite happy at her mating, making it so that he would not lose her soon to the death most humans expected in far too few years for a youkai's tastes.

Without further ado, he led her from the room to go find Rin, this time turning to the left as he exited the room and turning down a different hallway that headed alongside the wall of the dining room. At the end of that there were a couple of doors, and another set of stairs, and it was that which he led her down, heading back to the main floor.

Kagome could barely contain her excitement. Her new home was beautiful and she could hardly wait to explore all of it, and she would even have a human companion around, one that was understanding of a human living in a youkai world because she'd been doing it since she was quite young.

Eyes still darting everywhere as Sesshoumaru escorted her through the palace, taking no note of the occasional servants they passed, Kagome tried to calm her racing heart. Because there at the back of her mind was the fact that as the day waned, the hour of her mating approached. She was still untouched, and though she was more than well-acquainted with the subject of sexuality, it was one thing for it to be in reference to other people, and an entirely different thing when the subject was oneself.

She glanced out a window as they passed, eyes noting the slowly lowering sun with increasing nervousness. _Oh, boy. I know what's coming, but I'm getting more and more nervous as the hour grows later. I need to calm down..._

Sesshoumaru slid a secretive glance at Kagome, picking up on her nervousness, and knowing what was causing it. He couldn't help the predatory instincts that were beginning to surface...

Mating was a primal passion, and youkai were primal beings. His blood was heating in response to his knowledge of what was to come, and as the time grew closer for him to take her, he would begin to lose some of his normal civilized behavior, moving closer to his more animalistic side. He purred inwardly at his thoughts as Kagome's nervousness fed his instincts and called to his primal nature.

Tonight, he would be closer to his true form, that of a great inu, than at any other time while still remaining in his humanoid form. Most youkai reverted to their animal forms when mating because they didn't have enough power and control over their forms to maintain their humanoid form while doing something such as mating. Only the higher youkai could, the more intelligent ones like kitsune and inu, and most neko. Lower youkai forms, those with little native intelligence like boar and bulls, were left to mate wildly as the animals they truly were.

It was this ability to mate in their human forms that sometimes led the higher youkai to taking human mates, as had his General, and as he now was about to do.

And he could hardly wait.

His wild blood surged at the thought and his eyes reddened just a tiny bit.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The visit with Rin had gone well, even managing to take Kagome's attention and calm her nervousness, at least for a while, and before they knew it, it was time for the evening meal. As the gong sounded, Sesshoumaru stood and pulled Kagome up with him even as Rin's mate walked into the room to escort her to the meal as well.

This inuyoukai, a black inu, having mated a human himself certainly had no qualms with his Lord's chosen female, and their meeting went well, after which Sesshoumaru led the way with Kagome right at his heels, followed by the other two, to the dining room. It was here that the first real stares hit Kagome and began making her nervous again, though this time for a different reason.

As they entered the room everyone turned to look at Kagome, and knowing that she couldn't show any weakness, she stiffened her spine and narrowed her eyes pugnaciously. _I haven't backed down from a youkai or human yet, and I'm not about to start now, _she thought to herself angrily, shoving all her feelings of uneasiness aside.

Sesshoumaru led them through the room to the head table, at which point he indicated the soft cushion next to him, one that looked oddly new, the color just slightly darker than the others indicating this. She privately suspected that Yue had used the other one, since Sesshoumaru had let slip that he mostly took his meals in his study to avoid seeing her at mealtimes. He had probably ordered that cushion destroyed, knowing him and his hatred of his former mate.

Settling down much more gracefully than she would have been capable of in her younger years, she smiled slightly as Sesshoumaru nodded at her, pleased at her strong spine and refusal to be intimidated even when surrounded by youkai. Once everyone was seated, the servants brought in the meal, and after Sesshoumaru took his first bite, everyone else also began eating, at which time it began to grow a little louder in the room as those there began speaking amongst themselves.

Kagome, having noticed Shippo almost immediately upon entering, smiled widely at her adopted son, and he grinned back from his seat across from Rin and her mate, Hironori.

"So, did you get settled in, Shippo-kun?" she asked after a moment, then waited for him to speak while taking another bite herself. The food was good, excellently prepared, and she was quite appreciative of that fact after having to cook for herself for the last sixty plus years.

"Yeah, I'm good. Now I just need to figure out what one does with their time in a palace," he said wryly.

"You will begin training in the dojo with this Sesshoumaru in two days," the daiyoukai said, catching Shippo off-guard. "Idleness is not appreciated here. Kagome tells me that you are not an idle sort-" he cocked a brow at Shippo's dry nod, "-and that is a good thing." He paused, then asked, "Earlier, you carried a sword. Have you trained with said weapon, or is it merely decorative, as the sword the ookami princeling sometimes wears to appear more dangerous than he really is?"

Shippo couldn't help the snort that came from him then, not just at his words but at Kagome's rolled eyes. Both knew precisely who he was talking about. Kouga had never quite given up on convincing the miko to be his 'woman', even though he had finally succumbed to pressure and mated Ayame about thirty-five years ago.

"No, Sesshoumaru-sama," Shippo finally managed to get out, laughter clear in his voice as it was in his sparkling eyes. "I do know how to use my sword, though I don't have the skill you do, since I have not been trained for so many years as you have. Most of what I learned was taught to me by Sango, and I have attempted to learn more on my own. Your training will be much appreciated by this Shippo," he finished a little more formally, bowing his head respectfully to the inuyoukai, who inclined his head in acceptance.

"It is good you learned swordplay from the taijiya rather than Inuyasha," he replied blandly after a moment, tapping his chopsticks against the side of his bowl thoughtfully, "for that means that I will not have any bad habits to break you of, as I would have had to do had you taken any training from him."

He merely cocked a questioning brow at Kagome as she shot him a look heavy with irony at his consistent Inuyasha bashing. He had not often missed a chance to make verbal sport of his half-brother, even after he'd stopped trying to kill him.

Shippo just laughed. "Yeah, I kinda figured that out after Sango started teaching me. Everything we'd ever seen Inuyasha do with his sword she made a point to teach me was _wrong. _She even mentioned you, once, saying that I should have paid closer attention to you to see what I should be doing."

"Hn," he replied, deciding to change the subject. He didn't really want to be talking about the whelp, anyway, not today of all days. He looked to his adoptive daughter. "Rin, you should remember Shippo. He was the young kitsune that traveled with Kagome during the time of Naraku."

Rin, who had listened avidly to the conversation nodded. "Sure I do!" she chirped cheerfully, still the happy person she had always been. "How have you been all this time?"

Shippo smiled, though his manner became a little more formal, as it was proper with a mated female that he was not related to. "Very well, actually. Mama was very... conscious that she had a youkai son that needed things that she could not necessarily give him, so she made sure I had kitsune training for what I would need to know of my strengths and weaknesses. I have become pretty adept at using my magic, at the very least-" he smiled more warmly at Kagome, "-as even when I wished to sneak off and not work, she would stand over me and make me practice what I'd been taught until I got it right – and then she made me practice some more," he finished, the wry tone back as he grinned at his mother.

Rin laughed and nodded, a far away look on her face. "I am sure. I still remember a few of the times I had lessons to learn when I stayed with Kaede-sama, and Kagome-sama would come to visit – she would make sure I did not slack – not even when I wished to go flower-picking. She would simply take me out to the flower fields, and then drill me on my lessons there."

Kagome smiled slightly in remembrance, but didn't say anything, continuing to finish her meal. Her nerves would have her not eating, but she knew she would be needing the energy soon enough if the slowly-increasing tension coming from Sesshoumaru through the bond told her anything. It was interesting to note, however, that he seemed all that was relaxed to everyone else. It said much for the years of tension he had suffered living with his former mate.

Shippo nodded. "That sounds like my mom, all right. But it's a good thing she did what she did, because I learned what I needed to know and advanced through the kitsune youjitsu exams faster than any other kit that had gone through it," he added proudly. "I hold a higher rank than any other kitsune my age."

Rin smiled again. "I'm impressed! I remember some of your kitsune magic from when I was younger, and I'm sure it is much more impressive now than it was then."

Sesshoumaru arched an elegant brow and looked at Shippo with new eyes, weighing him. It was clear he was a bit impressed despite himself, as well, with the young male's accomplishments. _It is good that he is a hard worker, then. Perhaps I need not have been concerned, but some kitsune are known to be rather... uninspired. Or lazy, if I was being less polite._

The conversation washed over Kagome but did not gain her attention again; instead, she was busy thinking of her future. Her immediate future, to be precise.

She could feel Sesshoumaru's anticipation through the bond, and she was pretty damn sure he could feel her nervousness and fear, as well as her own anticipation. After all, she'd wished and dreamed of this day for years, never thinking it would come. But now that it had, the normal fears of a young woman (though she was really no longer young, relatively speaking) on what was basically her wedding night were overtaking her mind.

Could she please him in the bedroom? She didn't know if she could truly be what he needed. After all, though he'd desired her for a long time, as he'd said and even proven, they hadn't yet bedded together, and he might find that his dreams of her were just that – dreams. She was really worried about this particular fear because of the bond that already existed between them. If he did find himself unhappy with her body, or her physically in any way, what would they do?

She shivered at those thoughts, nerves making everything worse as her own imagination ran rampant, taking her fears and exaggerating them until she was almost ready to hyperventilate.

It was the touch of Sesshoumaru's hand on her arm, and the concerned expression in his eyes as she looked up, as well as the deep silence in the once somewhat noisy room, that finally got her to notice something outside of her rapidly degenerating thoughts. She caught his eyes and blinked, wondering what was wrong.

"You were becoming... too caught up in certain thoughts that obviously upset you," Sesshoumaru said at her confused expression, trying to be discreet in front of an entire room. "It was raising your aura and causing some discomfort to the youkai present."

She paled. "Oh, I am so sorry! I have never before had to worry about such things, since Shippo is not really bothered by my aura after so many years with me," she replied loudly, making sure everyone knew her apology was to them _all_. "I will be sure to take more care from now on," she finished, a blush on her cheeks as some noise returned to the room.

Looking down the table at her son, who'd cleared his throat, she tilted her head questioningly. "Yes?"

"What's the matter, mother? I've never seen you react to anything that way," Shippo stated matter-of-factly.

Sesshoumaru spoke before she could, which was a good thing, because she didn't know what to say to him, and this certainly wasn't a topic to share with one's son, grown or not.

"It is a private matter," he said coolly. "She and I will discuss it later."

At that, Shippo's eyes widened and he looked away, nodding. "Okay," he almost squeaked, and if Kagome hadn't been busy flushing so deeply and refusing to look up as well, she'd have seen the blushing face of her son and laughed. But she was too embarrassed, because this was not a subject she wanted to share with anyone else, not even really Sesshoumaru, since it was extremely embarrassing. After all, who wanted to share their fears of their faults, mental and physical, with anyone else?

Especially with someone that didn't _have_ any faults – physical or otherwise.

Sesshoumaru was highly intelligent – Kagome was absolutely certain, after some of the discussions they'd had over the years, as well as seeing his artistic talent, his ability to learn languages within days, and his physical prowess, that if he were in her era, he'd be considered not only a genius, but a savant. Not to be confused with an idiot savant, which is a low-I.Q person with one extreme talent or skill. No, definitely not to be confused with that. Kagome was totally positive that he would have put Einstein and all the other geniuses throughout history to shame.

Now, she was no slouch herself. She had scored on her own I.Q tests above genius level at one fifty-six, which was the only reason she'd been able to keep up with her schooling even though she was almost never there, and so had to learn most of everything without a teacher's aid at all, merely her schoolbooks themselves. It was just too bad the well had closed and she'd been trapped here before she could actually finish and graduate high school. It saddened her a bit to realize that her family had probably had to report her as missing after the well's closure so the school could close her records out.

But even with her smarts, sometimes it was difficult to keep up with Sesshoumaru. It was no surprise that he'd become such a lonely male, with no one of any intelligence close to his level to speak to. He'd always seemed to enjoy their discussions so very much and had become almost loquacious at times with her. She couldn't deny that she'd enjoyed them, too, and it had probably been a big relief to him to have someone that could even _sort of_ keep up with him. She'd been very startled one day in particular to come back to herself and realize that they'd basically just been discussing twelfth-dimensional physics.

She and Sesshoumaru. Who was not human, but an inuyoukai, and hadn't been anywhere near the modern era to even learn of such things. Yet he'd already figured out most of what her time's physicists knew, and all on his own!

It had been highly stimulating to find someone that could understand such concepts, and she was pretty sure, from his reactions, that it had been to him, as well. After all, his only other option was speaking to his son of such things, which he already did as he'd taken the duty of teaching his son himself, refusing to have tutors do so. And Ginkoutaishii was definitely going to give his father a run for his money someday, Kagome thought, glancing at the heretofore silent inuyoukai prince as he sat quietly at his father's other side and ate his meal in that aforementioned silence. The young male was most certainly his father's son, and not just in looks. _Thank kami._

Once you got past his almost frightening intelligence to noticing his physical beauty and perfection, well, it was no wonder that plain little old Kagome Higurashi, who was just a simple human woman with nothing to really make her stand out, was terrified of basically baring herself completely to this male who stood above all others. She would never understand what he saw in her, despite his words in the courtyard to Inuyasha. How could simple little Kagome, the little miko who was just a less than perfect reincarnation of Kikyou, ever hope to keep the attentions of someone like Sesshoumaru?

She sighed, looking down at her plate as she pushed what little was left of her food around on it with her chopsticks. And there was the truth of the matter, really. She'd never really gotten over the beating her self-esteem had taken from the situation with Kikyou. Well, that was not quite true.

For the most part, she was a confident, intelligent woman. She knew she was. When being looked at by human standards. In fact, in this era, she was smarter than pretty much any other human, and had more knowledge. But that was the problem. Sesshoumaru wasn't human, and so wouldn't be judging her by those standards. She certainly couldn't keep up with him, not truly, not that anyone _could, _but still. Anyone trying themselves against the standards of the daiyoukai were going to come out wanting – and she, a simple human woman from the future feared that she would, too.

She sneaked a glance at him from the corner of her eye, and sighed again, her eyes falling as she blushed even more at the feeling coming through the bond – satisfaction. He was pleased that she belonged to him. And then she knew he knew what she was thinking. Great.

Apparently he was a mind reader, too, along with all his other talents. Was there anything this almost-god couldn't do?

With that, Kagome firmly took control of her spiraling thoughts and refused to think about that topic anymore. She looked up and allowed herself to listen to the conversations around her, instead. This was safer territory to concentrate on.

Sesshoumaru was pretty sure he knew where Kagome's mind had run off to, what with the feelings she was broadcasting through their bond. He couldn't understand how she saw herself as just some simple human girl. She was so much more than that – so much. No youkai female he'd ever met could come close to comparing to her.

It wasn't really about her looks to him. Oh, he found her beautiful with her delicate Japanese features, though with the blue eyes that he'd never figured out how she'd come by, since that wasn't seen amongst the human population of their lands. But it was her spirit that attracted him, just as he'd told his brother. At least... it had been what had originally attracted him. As he'd gotten to know her better, her mind had drawn him in.

No one else had ever been able to keep up with him, except her. She understood the things his mind came up with and he could actually carry on a conversation with her about the world around them and how it worked, and she knew what he was talking about. He didn't get the blank look he'd always gotten from others when he'd tried talking to them, and after a while he'd just stopped talking about much of anything but what was strictly necessary. But with her... he could let his mind soar, and she soared with him.

On top of that, now, sixty years after Naraku's demise, she was the most powerful, well-trained miko their homeland had ever seen. That certainly didn't hurt her appeal, since he craved power in everything. She'd learned things that no one else had ever understood, since she'd been able to study and practice longer than any other living miko ever, what with her expanded lifetime.

And yet... she still felt inferior. He would have to work on that, he thought to himself as he caught her sideways look at him. After sending some reassurance through the bond, he looked around at the table and noted that most everyone seemed to be finished with their meals. Pleased, Sesshoumaru stood, gently pulling Kagome up as well, and, taking her arm in a manner more reminiscent of a European courtier that a Japanese Lord, wrapped it around his and escorted her from the room without a word. Kagome looked over her shoulder with a rather bewildered expression at a grinning Rin, who just grinned wider, shrugging her shoulders as if it say, 'It's Sesshoumaru-sama, what do you expect?'"

Kagome blinked as she turned back to face forward, wondering where they were going. It was still fairly early, after all, evening had just fallen.

But he said nothing, and Kagome followed along silently, not inclined to ask. She'd find out soon enough, she knew that for certain.

Sesshoumaru could feel her curiosity through their bond and almost wanted to smile. It would have been quite a dangerous smile.

_You will know very soon where I am taking you, Kagome. And when I am finished with you, you will never doubt your importance to this one again. You will know with no doubts. _He so wanted to just take her into his arms, but it would be an action beneath a Lord, and his people would be shocked at witnessing such emotion from him. _She is everything to me, and all I want to do is touch her and love her and hold her forever. And no one would ever suspect me of having such feelings. Sometimes I wish I hadn't been born to this title – Lord of the West – it weighs so much. But I would never forsake my birthright, and so I will continue to hide myself, showing only one person who I really am. _

Allowing his feelings for her to flood the bond, Sesshoumaru came to a stop outside a set of great doors. They were like the doors into the Great Audience Hall, though these doors held only the words of a warding spell, and a warning of danger to any that any entered these rooms without permission. Kagome looked up at him, her eyes wide at the potency of the spell warding whatever lay behind the shoji.

"What hides behind these doors that's being so strongly protected?"

She was not expecting the answer she got.

"These are the doors into our quarters. We are in the family wing. The spell is to keep others out. Give me your hand," he said, letting go her arm. "I must make sure the doors know who you are."

Blinking at him with confused eyes, she nonetheless held up her hand trustingly. His eyes smiled approvingly at her as he took her tiny hand in his elegantly masculine ones. With no warning he pricked her finger just a bit with one claw, allowing a drop of blood to well up, and then he pressed her finger to the door, allowing the blood to transfer to the rice paper. There was a flash of light as the warding spell accepted it, and then the doors opened on their own, to Kagome's surprise.

Thinking to put her finger in her mouth to lick the blood away, she was a bit surprised when Sesshoumaru did so himself with a heated look in his eyes and wrapped his tongue around her finger delicately, healing the tiny cut instantly.

Kagome's knees weakened immediately at the heat of his mouth and at the erotic way he was licking her finger. She'd never had anyone do something like that to her, and so her reactions were painfully innocent and untutored. And all the more honest for that, and Sesshoumaru appreciated that. Scenting that she was becoming aroused, Sesshoumaru swung her into his arms and strode into the room, not paying any attention as the doors closed behind them.

He didn't set her down until he was standing in the middle of the room, and then he stepped back to let her look around.

Kagome met his gaze, and then let her eyes wander the room he'd brought her to with wide eyes. The room was as big as the entirety of her shrine home in the future – it was _huge_. And unapologetically dark with wooden floors painted black and then lacquered with a high gloss and a bed with black silk sheets and blankets, offset with blood-red pillows.

Her brows rose at that, and she looked at him questioningly. He understood her look and smirked slightly.

"When you told me of your era's pillows, I decided that they would probably be much more comfortable than the normal wood block. I was right. Your influence, Kagome."

The rice paper walls were painted with various scenes, and Kagome was pretty certain they were painted by Sesshoumaru, because they resembled the paintings on the entrance to the palace, only these were more stark, more black and white than anything else, with little touches of color here and there. They glowed the same as the others, though, and seemed almost three dimensional, as well. And when she looked closer, she realized that the only things he used color on were what he wanted to draw attention to.

She followed along the walls of the room, looking at all the paintings – until she reached the other side of the room, and then a shocked gasp was ripped from her throat. There, looking back at her and looking just as real as she herself was a painting of her. She was dressed in the traditional miko garments, her hair billowing behind her in a heavy breeze. She was standing above the slayer village on a hill with trees around her, and the only thing that had any color in the painting was she herself. Her skin glowed, and her red hakama were so bright and crisp looking that she almost felt like the painting would step off the wall at any moment.

It was shocking, and even more stunning was just how beautiful she looked. Even as the painting had a faint glow, she glowed even more, and it was then that she realized that the painting of herself was the focus of the entire room.

She spun to look at him, too shocked to speak. He was standing there watching her with crimson washed golden eyes.

"Do you see, Kagome?" he asked, his normal deep baritone even deeper than normal. It weakened her even more than she already was... his voice was beautiful, sexy, erotic. It was just as perfect as the rest of him. "This room... Yue was never allowed here. She tried to come here the day I was forced to mate her." His face took on an angry cast as he remembered that day. "I threw her out. You are the only woman I have ever allowed in this room. And you have been in this room-" he gestured at the painting of her, "-since the day after my mother's trap closed on me. I retired here and refused to leave it until it was finished. You have been here ever since."

Kagome was stunned, unable to move. Sesshoumaru wasn't, however, and he slipped towards her, slowly stalking her as she finally moved, backing up, pressing into the wall right next to the painting of her almost apprehensively... he came to a halt when he was only inches from pressing into her, and looked from her face to the one in the painting, studying her, and then the painting.

"It looks just like you," he said in a rather dark tone, a pleased expression on his face. "It turned out well. Beautiful, just as you are." He lifted a hand to her face, brushing the back of his hand over her cheek, his eyes so intense they could have burned her. "Do you understand yet, woman? You are my weakness, and I do not even care – I, who disdains any weakness. You are so soft," he said after a moment, his voice almost a whisper. "I _crave_ you, miko, and I am through waiting," he warned her, his eyes flashing with heat like lightening. Pulling away from her mesmerized body and opening a tansu near the bed, he tossed her a silk yukata. "Go, freshen up, through those doors on the left side. It is a bathing room. Put the yukata on."

She did as told almost on autopilot, she was just so overwhelmed at what she'd found in this room and what it meant.

_He... he painted me... on his wall. The wall his bed faces. And it's life size. He's been staring at me for sixty years. _She wanted to cry – but not for herself – for him. It said something about him that just blew her away. It proved the existence of his vulnerable, emotional side beyond a shadow of a doubt. It spoke not only to how much he had wanted her, but how much pain his mother's machinations had caused him – when he had painted that, he had been under the impression that was all he would ever have of her – because at that time, he hadn't known that she wouldn't be aging and dying. That's what broke her heart the most.

_How could his own mother have wished such unhappiness on him? _she wondered. _I couldn't ever do that to a child of mine. _

As her thoughts raced, she stripped down and then sluiced off with the bucket of warm water meant for that purpose, then dried herself off and slipped into the yukata he'd given her. She was so caught up in the stunning discovery of the painting of her and what it showed that her previous nervousness was pushed to the back of her mind and forgotten.

It was surprising, at least at first glance, at just how perfect it was, too. It was identical to her. It showed just how good his memory really was, as well as the fact that apparently, she was one of the things burned into it in photographic detail.

_Although I swear he made me look a little better than I really do... what's that saying – done with a loving hand? Yes, that's it. _Her heart banged against her chest as she thought that, because she could feel Sesshoumaru suddenly flooding the bond with his excitement and anticipation... and she was unable to believe just how much of both there was. It was like an endless river...

Tying the wrap around her to hold the yukata closed, Kagome turned to look at the door, then started towards it, drawn by his suddenly poignant desire to see her and touch her again. How could she stay in the bathing room and hide from him with his emotions bombarding her as they were?

Her eyes were drawn to him as she stepped back into the room, and everything else faded away but him.

There would be no more hiding.

~oOo~

A/N: Originally, this chapter was supposed to be the lemon, but it was just getting too long, so I decided to add the lemon as chapter six and make seven the final chapter of this fic, instead. So... for those who are enjoying the story, you get an extra chapter!

Amber


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Sesshoumaru was standing across the room from her as she stepped through the door from the bathing room and slid it shut with a quiet clack, also dressed in nothing but a yukata, though his was a Prussian blue that matched his crescent moon. Her breath hitched in a tiny gasp – that color just framed his fair beauty and only emphasized it – like he needed any help.

But it seemed that her thoughts of him were being echoed by him in turn, and she watched his eyes dilate and darken as he looked her over, the warm crimson of the yukata he'd given her to put on apparently framing her coloring well as he sent a flood of warm desire through the bond.

"You are beautiful," he said simply, his voice quiet, husky.

"So are you," she returned shyly, her eyes held by the intensity of the emotions in his.

Both of them seemed frozen in the moment, simply staring into each others eyes and feeling the other's emotions through the bond. It was an intimate sharing, no less important or necessary than the physical bonding that was about to take place.

It was Sesshoumaru who eventually broke the moment as he suddenly flash-stepped across the intervening space, coming to stand before Kagome. Startled, she stepped back against the wall, stunned at his quick movement and the predatory hint in his eyes as the crimson sheen in them that had so far darkened his golden eyes to a deep bronze began to deepen the bronze to a more red tone as his instinctual side took hold of him even more.

He frowned at her. "Do you fear me?" he almost whispered as he stepped closer.

She swallowed hard and then whispered back, "Yes, and no. I fear... but not_ you._ I fear... the unknown."

The frown smoothed out and he leaned down, his mouth hovering just a hairs-breadth above hers. "There is nothing to fear, beloved," he said, his voice a mere breath of sound that she barely heard, and then he pressed his mouth gently against hers. He pressed several coaxing kisses to her lips before saying, "Open for me, Kagome," in a dark velvet voice that weakened her knees and bade her to obey him without question.

And she did. The moment her lips parted he slid his tongue in with a slow, slick slide that further threw Kagome's senses into disarray and weakened her body. She moaned, and Sesshoumaru responded by wrapping an arm around her and pulling her closer to him, pressing her to his already aroused flesh. Kagome gasped at the feel of that arousal, her own scent spiking as Sesshoumaru continued kissing her. He coaxed her back into his mouth, and she flicked the tip of her tongue against his fangs, wringing a dangerous growl from him. She slumped against him, then, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding on for dear life.

Pulling back from the kiss enough for them both to regain their breath, he swung Kagome up into his arms, then kissed her again, a slow, unhurried kiss this time that left the taste of sultry summer nights on her tongue and honeyed passion running thickly through her veins. Already her body was humming, and her nervousness was being subsumed by Sesshoumaru's seduction of her body, heart, and mind.

What he was doing to her wasn't only physical. That was what made it so devastatingly potent. He was slowly inundating her with his own emotions for her, a sea of love so vast that Kagome could hardly believe that it was truly directed at her_. _Tears welled up in her eyes as she skimmed the surface of that endless ocean and let it drown her mind with the eternal vistas of time that sea also covered. He was telling her through the bond that it would never dry up, never fade away – it would only grow, consuming his soul and her own until both he and she disappeared into that same eternity.

Kagome was completely undone at the truth of the size of the heart, the endlessness of the love, the sheer _emotion_ that Sesshoumaru hid behind a stoic and icy facade. She would never have guessed it was so, and she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that no one else would ever believe it even if she were to tell them. But that was okay, because she didn't want anyone else to know, she found. She _liked_ knowing it was something only she would ever see, only she would ever feel.

She opened her own soul to him, allowing him to see her in all her faded glory, her tattered heart filled with also endless love for him. It was a sharing beyond time or place, two becoming one in spirit as their bodies soon would. Sesshoumaru responded to her with a deep groan as he laid her gently atop their bed, then stepped back to look at her laid across the ebony silk of his sheets. With her own sable locks now draped across the sheets in sweet disarray, and the warmth of the crimson silk she was wrapped in bringing her flawless, pale complexion to glowing life, she was breathtaking to him. Sesshoumaru wanted in that moment to paint her, just like that, to forever keep that vision so that he would never, ever forget this one moment outside of time.

_I will paint her this way... for even though I will never forget her like this, I wish to be able to see it again anytime I choose. I will keep it hidden away so only I will ever see it... another part of her that is just for me._

Something seemed to take Kagome then, some boldness, and she held her arms up to him, beckoning him to come to her as every woman since Eve had welcomed their males. Sesshoumaru was no more immune to her feminine wiles than other males were to their women, and so he crawled up towards her on hands and knees and then came down on her gently, pressing himself back into her soft, giving flesh once more.

Unable to help himself, he kissed her again, nipping her already swollen bottom lip for entrance and kissing her with all the frustration and need of sixty plus years of waiting, drinking her in like someone dying of thirst. She returned his ardor uncertainly, her innocence showing through clearly. When neither could ignore the need to breathe any longer, he pulled away and stared down at her as he fought to regain his usual tight grip on himself. Once he had managed to reassert some control, strained though it was, he painted a path with his lips across her cheek to her little, rounded ear. It was so delicate, so dainty, just like she herself, and he nipped at it as well, a faint smile tilting mobile lips as she inhaled, and then he trailed down from there across her sensitive neck to her already rapid pulse.

She was so tender there, so soft and vulnerable and it made his heart ache even as her pulse fluttered like a trapped bird beneath his questing lips.

Utterly abandoned, she lay like a virgin sacrifice to some pagan god across his bed, and Sesshoumaru shivered, the oft-dreamed sight of her spread across his silks waiting for his touch sending fire licking through his veins. The dream could never measure up to the reality in any way, however, and hungry beyond anything he could ever remember, he returned his mouth to her flesh, moving down from her neck to her collarbone. Her yukata got in his way, and he nosed it aside even as he began untying it at her waist, needing what it hid to be uncovered, _now_.

As her scent, combined with the taste of her silky skin burst across his senses, he purred, a smooth, baritone rumble that caused Kagome's scent to spike even higher as it assaulted her sensitive ears with the decadent tone. Few people realized that she had perfect pitch, and because of that, her ears were very sensitive – and Sesshoumaru's voice was pitched just perfectly to those ears so as to be incredibly sexy to her. She had always likened hearing him speak to chocolate truffles melting over your tongue.

After a moment, Sesshoumaru pulled away and looked at her. His gaze was so deep in those few seconds that it captured her soul, and Kagome couldn't have looked away if her life had depended on it. "Let that indomitable spirit of yours, the one that stole my own soul and revived the heart that had been dying fly free, Kagome," he said huskily, passion clouding his voice and his hooded, wanting eyes. "Let it out to fly with me. I promise, itoshii, there is nothing to fear where we are going."

Even further undone from his erotically and emotionally charged words, Kagome could do no less than he'd asked, and she shoved the fear to the back of her mind and simply allowed herself to drown in the river of passion he was leading her into.

"Yes," she said, unable to get anything else out of her tight throat, that tightness causing her own voice to be just as husky. So she set aside everything, even her own shyness and virginal inhibitions, and simply allowed herself to feel, willingly following wherever he led her.

Bringing her hands up, which had heretofore been clenched in the sheets, she touched his shoulders, laying her hands flat against his skin and pressing her palms to him. He was so much warmer than any human, his body almost seeming to be an inferno to her as she caressed his muscled shoulders and down his upper arms, parting his yukata as she went. Her hands molded lovingly to his flesh, almost as if she were shaping it, and Sesshoumaru sucked in a startled breath at the sheer measure of fire that burst into life inside him at her untutored touch.

"Yes, just like that," he exhaled deeply, trembling with the effort it took to remain still, but holding himself steady so that she could continue to explore him anyway. "It feels so incredible to finally know your touch, little one," he said thickly, still holding her gaze with his, deep golden eyes fathomless in the low candlelight.

To the tune of Sesshoumaru's encouraging words and sounds, Kagome continued touching him, running her hands down his beautiful chest and parting his yukata even more. But it didn't fall open very far, and when it began restricting her efforts to feel all of him that she could, she made an impatient sound – and from one second to the next his yukata was gone. She blinked in surprise for a moment as silver locks floated gently back down around them, but then shook her head and continued with her explorations as though nothing had happened.

Sesshoumaru didn't even try to hide what her hands tracing every muscle was doing to him. It felt so _good_, to be touched this way again – after all, for him it had been over sixty years since someone had touched him this way, and it had never felt as good as this did. It was almost more than he could stand.

_Languorous, slow burn..._

_Endless, devouring hunger..._

Unable to hold himself back from her anymore as her touch literally scalded him, he reached out with one clawed hand and grabbed her wrists away from his abdomen, pulling them above her head. "_Enough_," he rasped, eyes burning hotly into hers. "Enough." He held her gaze for several dangerous moments, and then said, "Keep them there," softly with a dark inflection that caused Kagome to shiver and raised gooseflesh across her entire body.

Unable to look away in turn, she nodded faintly.

"Good girl," he acknowledged her compliance with a purr, caressing his hand back down her raised arm and across her chest to between her breasts.

He finally broke her gaze, looking down to where his hand lay against her body as though fascinated by the sight. Her skin was so pale, just a shade darker than his own, and he explored it, using fingertips and claws with perfect precision. When she arched into his touch and gasped, her eyes widening, his flicked back up to meet hers again and held there for a moment, watching as her eyes darkened in response.

"So good," she managed to get out through a throat constricted with pleasure.

"This is but the merest foreshadowing of the pleasure to be found for those who wish to look, Kagome," he told her, still moving as he palmed a pale breast, hissing faintly as it tightened and furled against his hand.

Unable to help herself, she tilted her head back as her eyes fell closed and she moaned throatily, barely even hearing his own soft moan at the sight of her like that, with her throat bared and vulnerable to him and her black tresses looking almost blue in the low light.

_So much better than any dream of her I have ever had..._

It was the end of his control. Unable to hold back or move slowly any longer, he lowered his head to her ripe curves and mapped a path of devastation along her flesh, his blood rushing through him so fast that he was almost unable to even hear her any further through the roaring in his ears. He could feel their souls moving closer together, hers, large and bright and more beautiful than anything he'd ever seen, and his own, powerful and dark and dominant creating a circle of black and white that echoed eternity in its endless curve.

It was because of the blood vow she'd given him. It was allowing a closer bond than what would normally be possible with a simple mating. _A bond like that of the gods, _he thought vaguely as he moved down her now writhing body. He could smell the scent of saline and knew she was crying, but not in pain, oh, no... these tears were good tears, speaking of the intensity of the emotion and pleasure she was feeling. Her heart was simply unable to contain the sheer, breathtaking scope of their realized love and the pleasure to be had between two people that she had never before experienced.

"Oh," she gulped, her voice small and tight when he finally reached his destination and buried his silver head between her soft, shapely thighs. Fists clenching in the sheets where they still lay over her head, she stared at the ceiling with dazed eyes as Sesshoumaru fell on her and devoured her after his first slow, relishing taste. Endless seeming amounts of time seemed to pass as she reacted to his touch freely and with an innocent abandon that burned her reactions into his mind in lines of fire, never to be forgotten. He used his tongue and even his fangs with devastating potency, wringing little mewls, coos, and moans from her and as she grew closer to her first orgasm, cries of his name, as well.

Dragging the tip of one fang across her little bundle of nerves, Sesshoumaru rumbled, a sound of ultimate enjoyment as she arched helplessly into him and thrashed, pleading with him for what she did not know. He smirked wickedly, because he _did_ know. He knew just what she was begging for.

"Let go and fly, Kagome," he said commandingly in an impossibly wicked voice, and with a flick of his tongue, he sent her wailing into the void as white light exploded in her mind and it went blank as she went taut, shutting down, her body helplessly riding the waves of pleasure to their ultimate end.

Pulling back and watching as she took the fall, Sesshoumaru was impossibly turned on by the visual, nothing more erotic having ever met his eyes. He shuddered – he came near to bursting with his own pleasure just from watching her. Clenching his eyes closed after a moment as she finally slumped, still crying weakly, he fought for control yet again. Now was the moment of truth – it was finally time to join their bodies as one, and he knew it would not be the most comfortable experience for her, since she was untouched by any other. He did not want to hurt her.

But he was not small, and he knew that this was something that she would have to get through, just like every female had to – even youkai females suffered the curse of painful breaching the first time. Wanting to make it as easy as possible, he lowered his head to her again and soon had her flying once more, her body more responsive than anyone he'd ever known. Just as she crested the wave again, he pulled away and guided himself into her, thrusting forward and breaking cleanly through her barrier as he came to a shuddering halt with his hips pressed tightly to her own.

He was uncertain what her reaction had been because he was almost flung over the edge himself in that first moment inside her.

_Hot, tight, wet_...

_Searing, explosive inferno..._

He shuddered all over and his eyes finally bled fully red before closing, as close to his true form as he could get and yet remain in this form. He growled long and low as his blood pounded through him and his heart raced. Fighting to pull himself back from the edge and the impossible pleasure and stimulation just being inside her was, Sesshoumaru held himself above her, clenched tightly as he slowly pulled his mind back from the raging current and gripped his frayed and tattered control before clawing his way back from the edge of sanity to a state of basic functionality once more.

It was the best he could hope for, and once he felt that he could move without flying apart he opened his eyes and looked down at Kagome, hoping that she was okay. He had never lost it like that before, and he was uncertain that she was ready for him to move.

She was simply laying quietly beneath him, her eyes dazed and unseeing as she stared upwards at the ceiling. He didn't even know if she was really aware of anything outside herself, and so he said, "Kagome?" in a questioning tone, hoping she was at least aware enough to acknowledge him.

It was slow, but he watched carefully as some awareness returned to her eyes and she focused on him, though her eyes were still hazy. "Y-yes?" she stuttered hesitantly, almost as if she'd forgotten how to talk.

"Are you alright?"

She blinked, then nodded slowly, as if unsure of what he was asking. "Mhmm," she hummed in reply after a moment.

Amused, Sesshoumaru decided just to test the waters, because he still wasn't certain she even understood what he was saying, so flexing his hips, he pulled out and then slid back inside. It felt so good that he moaned and collapsed against her, unable to hold himself up over her any longer.

Once he heard her answering moan, he knew everything was fine, and with that, he retracted and thrust forward again, finding a slow, steady rhythm that didn't strangle all his good intentions or his control. He purred as Kagome slid her arms around him, holding to his broad back tightly, her blunt nails digging little crescents into his flesh and making him rumble loudly in delight.

Kagome was afraid that she was going to fly off into nirvana and never be seen again. She felt like she was flying, flying up and away from all earthly bonds and floating amongst the stars. She had never imagined that it would feel so good.

Being that she was from the modern era, she'd heard a great deal about sex, she'd read romance manga and even books, heard her friends talk about it, and as a healer also had to deal with such things in her practice as giving advice to brides-to-be. But despite everything she'd ever heard or learned, she had always privately suspected that it felt better for the men than the women, and had carried plenty of doubts that most women enjoyed it all that much – because, while they _were_ capable of feeling the pleasure, most men either didn't care enough to try to make it good for their women, or just couldn't last long enough to do so.

But apparently inuyoukai were not cut from the same cloth as human men, because this was so far out past just good that she was literally out of her head with pleasure. She was pretty sure someone could cause her some pretty intense pain and she wouldn't even notice it – as witnessed by the fact that she hadn't noticed any pain when he'd finally breached her. And it wasn't because he wasn't large as hell, because she felt stuffed full to the brim, and she'd felt the pressure of her hymen breaking – but no pain. It had drowned in the pleasure just like she had.

Crying out inarticulately with what little breath she could find, she pressed herself tighter against him, feeling so close to him in that moment as she cried out his name. His golden eyes, which had fallen closed at some point, opened and stared down into hers redly with the most intense look she'd ever seen in them. For one tiny, yet infinite second, everything stopped, and his eyes sparked with searing flame into hers, igniting her with an inferno of wanting and love and passion unlike anything she'd ever known. It stole her breath, stole her mind, stole her _heart_ in equal measures as he paused above her feeling the same pull...

And then it faded, and sound, feeling, and life came back to her and she arched into him as her body tightened down on his mercilessly, trying to hold him inside her, never wanting to be parted from him again. He snarled and clenched his jaw, fangs glinting dangerously in the candlelight as he practically shredded the bedding, his hips thrusting faster, helpless to hold back or go slowly any longer. He looked so beautiful, his godly body and tightly etched muscles glowing with a sheen of sweat and his silver hair flashing in the warm golden light of the room, that Kagome felt herself swept suddenly to the very edge of her pleasure just at the sight of him like that, barely controlled as he moved above her with increasing speed.

_Fierce, liquid heat..._

_Dark, brilliant ecstasy..._

She wailed, agonized by the promise of the knife's edge of oblivion hovering just out of reach and she grasped at it with desperate fingers... _Oh, please, oh please, oh please!_

"Ka-go-me," he gasped out as she tightened further, so close to her orgasm now that she was hanging over the edge holding on by one finger. He tried to say something else, but he was unable to speak another word as he tilted her hips up and thrust hard twice more, sending her over the edge for a third time that night.

"Sesshoumaru!" she gasped out, unable to get any volume behind her voice since she couldn't even breathe as he roared above her and thrust rapidly into her several more times, riding her release for all it was worth.

He could feel the echo of her pleasure through their bond, and the intensity of it, along with the exquisite rapture he was feeling himself slapped him into his own orgasm, a stab of heat at the base of his spine swelling into a wave of heat that forced his seed through his shaft with jolts of unimaginable ecstasy. It had never, ever felt this good, and it was then that he knew that what his father had once told him was true – sex was pleasurable, yes – but when your partner was one that engaged not only your physical desire, but your heart and soul as well, it became far more than just pleasurable and moved into the realms of perfection.

He barely retained enough presence of mind to roll them over onto their sides as his body went limp, every bit of strength gone in the aftermath of such an intense, heady release. And he couldn't even blame it on his extended dry spell – he'd gone longer between partners before. He was, after all, extremely selective in such matters.

His eyes fell closed as he tried to regain his presence of mind and his breath as well, absolutely exhausted. He would have to rest before he'd be ready to go again, though his new mate would not be getting much sleep – he wanted her too badly for just once to ever suffice. Once his body had had the chance to catch back up to itself, he'd be starting in on her again, and he felt the need to warn her of that fact so she could not say he'd surprised her.

"We will be doing that again, Kagome, soon" he panted, looking over to meet her eyes.

"Again? You have the energy to do that_ again?_" she gasped out between breaths, her eyes already drooping with weariness.

"Not without rest first, of course," he responded, enjoying how she looked with drowsy eyes and mussed hair. She looked well-loved. The sight was very stimulating.

She blinked at the feel of him hardening within her again and stared at him incredulously. "What happened to resting first!?" she squeaked, shocked.

"We did rest," he said with a wicked smirk. "It has been a few minutes, has it not?" he teased, before he swiftly withdrew from her warmth and turned her over, mounting her from behind and thrusting forward immediately with exquisite force.

"Ah!" she shouted, stunned at how good it felt so soon after her first time – and how fast she was also ready to go again.

Her eyes fell closed and the last of her fading awareness let her know just how worn out she would be come morning.

It was a distant thought and was gone as soon as it occurred as she succumbed to Sesshoumaru's much wilder touch this time around with great satisfaction and enjoyment.

~oOo~

With a ragged cry, Sesshoumaru slumped over Kagome's fitfully shivering form as all his great reserves of energy left his body in waves, infiltrating his new mate's tiny, sweat-soaked form, finalizing and sealing the bond that she had initially begun in her small hut and tying them together in a much more intimate manner than either of them had expected.

Both reveled in it, though, very happy to be tied together in such a close way – neither would ever be alone again, whether their partner was within visible range or not, they would be able to feel each other quite clearly no matter what.

Gathering himself enough to disengage from Kagome, he sent a comforting touch through their bond as she whimpered at his withdrawal, though she was indeed too tired to go another round without some serious sleep. He pulled her down with him as he rolled onto his back, pulling her against his chest as her head came to rest just over his heart. He ran his hand up and down her back in a soft caress as his breathing slowed, matching hers effortlessly.

"Do you see? Do you understand now, who you are to me and how I see you, Kagome?" he asked softly after a time of silence as both rested and explored their new, sealed bond.

She nodded. "This... it isn't anything like a normal mating bond, is it?" she asked, though really she knew the answer.

"You know it is not," he replied, a sense of mellow contentment invading his system at the hum of her own contentment in the back of his mind. "I would not want to be tied in such a way to just anyone, and neither would most other youkai. This... this kind of bond is reserved only for those who choose it and their partners for reasons having nothing to do with heirs or politics."

"Hm," she sounded drowsily, accepting his words and yawning sleepily. "I'm so tired."

"Then sleep, little mate, we have the rest of our lives to speak and to accustom ourselves to this bonding. Tomorrow is soon enough to start."

"Okay," she mumbled, asleep as soon as her lashes rested against her cheeks like dark smudges.

Sesshoumaru skimmed a hand down her back, enjoying the soft skin, barely touching her as her hair lay across it like a dark storm cloud, contrasting so beautifully with her flesh. His own eyes beginning to blink drowsily, he sighed just slightly and then allowed them to fall closed as well, ready for rest and no longer afraid of the loneliness to be found when waking from his dreams with the dawning of the new day.

Reality was no longer lonely, no longer painful.

Reality felt wonderful, fresh and new again and laden with promise.

~oOo~

A/N: One more chapter to go!

Amber


	7. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Sesshoumaru set his quill down on his desk and sighed, relaxing back on his cushion and looking out the wide-open shoji into the gardens that had been planted around this area of the palace by his irrepressible mate.

Kagome had proved to be an irreplaceable boon to him in so many ways over the years since he had mated her, and he could honestly say that he had never before known the slightest bit of comfort or happiness 'til the night he had finally taken her.

That night was still fresh and untainted by time in his memories, and he revisited it often in his thoughts, even as he often opened the special, locked cabinet he'd had made to his specifications, and looked on the painting he had done of her as she had been that night. Her fair beauty had been warmed by silks of scarlet, and framed by black cloth of the same silk, his bedsheets looking better in that moment than they ever had before often leaving him breathless, and he was glad he'd thought of painting her that way.

No one besides he but she, herself, had even seen the painting, and no one ever would – he was not willing to share that image of her, open and abandoned to him with anyone else. It was too precious, too private, too perfect to do so. He had spent years believing even he would never see her thus, and sometimes he still had trouble believing this wasn't all some sort of glorious dream.

If he ever were to wake and find himself still trapped by that dreadful bitch, Yue, he was certain that he would instantly wither away with the most intense grief – the same grief that any thoughts of losing his mate, or never having her in the first place, engendered within him.

But it wasn't a dream, a dream brought about by his years of painful longing – no, this was the joy that his life now was. Now he was not trapped within a few areas of his palace in order to avoid the presence of a mate he'd never wanted, but free to roam wherever in his home he wished – and he did, often. Usually with Kagome, as he disliked being away from her even with the spiritual closeness afforded them through their bond. He wanted to be able to _see_ her, all the time. It was a deep, unending _need_. He needed to see her to believe she was really there, and that need had not abated in all the years since their mating. He was beginning to understand that it never would.

Even now, he would be at her side – had he not been chased from the birthing rooms by the midwife and her assistants when he became too unstable to control himself due to the pain his laboring mate was suffering. He could, after all, feel every bit of it thanks to that same bond.

It was good, though, that his child was coming now, because tomorrow would not have been so good – the palace had geared up to prepare for his brother's mating. He was hosting a feast in their honor, and Kagome would have been devastated to not only miss it, but interrupt it.

Yes, he was actually hosting a feast in his brother's honor, as strange as that may seem.

His mind wandered over how the current circumstances had come about.

About a year after his mating to Kagome, Inuyasha had shown up at his palace and asked to see her. At first, he had been inclined to turn his brother away. After all, how important could his little mate really be to his half-brother, if he'd stayed away for an entire year – and that after not seeing her for sixty? However, when he'd demanded an answer of the whelp to just that question, his fury had been drained away when the boy had answered. He had stayed away, he claimed, to give them time to bond and become close – and for his brother to become comfortable with their bond and realize that he, Inuyasha, was no threat to it.

He'd been understandably suspicious of such an answer, at first – but Inuyasha had scented of total honesty in that moment, and finally, he had relented and allowed the hanyou to visit with his mate.

Kagome had been happy enough to see him, and after that, visits had been frequent. After a while, he had gotten to know his brother much better than he had ever thought to, and realized that he was no longer a boy, but had grown up and changed a great deal. He'd become someone that he could almost... like. And so he had offered to take his brother under his wing, even training him personally once Inuyasha had agreed.

He'd been surprised to see that he hadn't needed as much of that training as he'd thought – he'd already trained himself quite a bit and had actually gotten over most of his bad habits on his own. Now, Inuyasha was someone he could actually say he would not be ashamed to fight beside. Not that he'd say it out loud, of course. He still had his pride, after all.

He winced as he felt the tenor of Kagome's birthing pains change, and when he sent a surge of reassurance through their bond, he felt her return love and the knowledge that it was almost over – her pains had changed as it had become time to push their child from her body. He was left breathless and with nothing to say; all he could do was send a sense of excitement through the bond as that emotion flooded his mind and body and pushed everything else out. He could hardly wait to see his new pup – hanyou or not.

Still, he knew that it would be some little time yet, and forcibly going back to his previous thoughts, he stood, and paced over to the doors into the gardens before stepping out of them and down into the garden itself, letting the fresh air and beautiful scents wash his tension away.

Wondering where Inuyasha was, as well as his own son, Ginkoutaishii, he flared his aura out, seeking theirs, and was surprised to find them in the dojo together. After a moment's thought, however, that surprise drained away. Inuyasha was probably trying to work off the tension of his imminent mating, and his son was most likely simply finding whatever he could to hold back his excitement at finally having a sibling.

There would be no division in his house at the birth of a hanyou pup – both of his pups, unlike he and Inuyasha, would grow up together and with the knowledge of what it was to be pack. And he was glad of that fact.

Ginkoutaishii had actually been a bit jealous, at first, not wanting to share Kagome with a sibling – and a sibling who was Kagome's full child, as he was not. He had been acting very much out of character, and he had had no idea of what was wrong with his son – but Kagome had, and she had been the one to take the boy aside and speak to him about it. Afterward, with the assurance of also seeing how her treatment of he and even Shippo had not changed one whit with the impending birth of this child, he had settled down and even become excited at the thought of having a younger sibling.

Wandering aimlessly through the gardens as he awaited word of his child's birth, he couldn't help the quick smirk that flashed across his face as he thought of Shippo. The young male was quite popular with the females, his dashing personality grabbing their attentions very easily. But he was still a bachelor, despite all of that, content to work his way up through the ranks of the army with his also formidable military genius. Before long, he would be a General, and the youngest one to ever attain that rank, too. He was particularly brilliant at finding ways to incorporate his now very powerful - due to his third tail - kitsune magic into battle tactics, and anytime he was sent out and ranged against an opponent, it was a sure victory for the West, for he was undefeated – whether in war, or even in personal combat, except by he, himself.

He smirked at the thought – even Inuyasha hadn't been able to beat the young male, and the times he himself had fought Shippo, the young kitsune had simply grinned his irrepressible grin when he inevitably lost and shrugged, saying that he, Sesshoumaru, was what kept him from becoming overbearing and arrogant about his skills. He shook his head at that thought, amused, because the truth of the matter was that it was Kagome that kept him from getting overbearing and arrogant, and no one else. Like every other being of even modest intelligence, if the truth were to be told – and that included he, himself, as well. His mate could certainly be terrifying when she wanted to be, there was no denying that.

Of course, it went without saying that Inuyasha's mate-to-be was just as dangerous and terrifying when needed, and he had no doubt that she would be able to keep his temperamental brother in check. Kagome still had the power of the kotodama, of course, but she was reluctant to continue to use it, saying that it was no longer her place. When she had tried to take it off of him, however, when he told them of the acceptance by his chosen female of his proposal, he had refused, as had his mate-to-be, Mine – he had told her of his unstable blood, and both wished to keep the kotodama on him for use as a last resort, so to speak.

Mine was a full-blooded inuyoukai, a powerful female who was fairly highly ranked in his army, but as with most other youkai, she had at first had no idea of what Inuyasha's youkai blood could at times cause. And though it was less likely now than it had once been that he would be in such desperate straits that his youkai blood would become so dominant again, what with his training and his even greater strength in the here and now, still, it _could_ happen, and once Mine had been made aware of the potential problem, she had also agreed that it was best if Kagome keep those beads in place. Just in case.

A sudden increase in the already incredible pain his mate was experiencing had his eyes going crimson and his fangs elongating as his instinctual side began to overpower his control – he could feel the pain just as much as his mate could, which was why he had stayed away from others – his control was very thin, and he was drenched in sweat with trying to function through the pain. That was why he'd tried losing himself in his memories – it had been a rather vain attempt to stop this very thing. While his instinctual side knew this was a natural pain, a good pain that meant the birth of the pup born of his love for his mate, it didn't at this moment care – she was in pain, and he did not like anything that caused her – or himself - pain.

He clenched his eyes closed as he tried to fight off the now overwhelming pain and regain his usually impeccable control so that he did not destroy his own palace by taking his true form while inside its confines. But despite his own formidable strength, it was the rush of love and faith from his mate when she realized his struggle that ultimately gave him the strength to fight off the fog in his brain because of said pain, and as his eyes once more calmed to gold, he was again left stunned and and breathless at his mate's formidable strength and her unfaltering courage and determination.

She was in agony. He could feel it, and yet, she had the strength to not only notice something outside her own exhaustion and pain, but bolster him enough to calm him down once more. Unable to help himself, he sent her his own unending and undying love and some of his strength through the bond, knowing that it was almost over – his pup was even now breaching its mother's body and readying to take its first breaths. Turning from his wanderings in the garden, he hurried to the birthing room, moving faster than any of his subjects had ever seen, though they all had the intelligence to get out of his way, knowing that he was heading for his mate.

By the time he arrived at the room he had ordered set aside as a birthing room and specially prepared with every possible comfort that could be had for a laboring female, the doors had been opened wide in welcome to their Lord, and he swept inside, impatient now to see his mate and make sure she was okay, though he could feel through the bond that she was, though absolutely exhausted. He could feel her elation, as well, and it fed his own rising excitement.

He would never forget his first sight of her, holding the tiny bundled form of their pup to her chest and looking down at it with a glow in her eyes. And despite her mussed form, sweat-drenched and wan-looking, she was so beautiful in his eyes at that moment...

"Kagome," he murmured in relief – both of her pain and his own sharing of it.

She turned at his uttering and looked up at him with adoration in her softly glowing eyes and smiled, a wide, uncomplicated and beautiful smile. "Look, Sesshoumaru! Our baby... she's beautiful. So perfect. She looks just like you..." she trailed off, once more looking down at the bundle-wrapped form of their... daughter. She sighed, and then lifted the pup up to him as he arrived at her side.

_Her? A... female. _That was something that for some reason, he had not expected. The truth was, female inu were rare, and he'd just assumed, for some reason, that this pup would be a male, just like his heir. The fact of the matter was, his line had only produced three daughters in as many millenia. But he wasn't disappointed – no, he was elated. A daughter!

He sat down on the bed as the healers and midwife worked around him clearing the afterbirth and straightening the room, and settled his pup on the bed, suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to see his daughter. Would she resemble his brother with the ears that Kagome had always loved so much?

As he unwrapped her carefully, he found that she did not. In fact, his mate was right – she looked just like him, all her markings, the crescent, everything, even down to his ears. The only thing different was her eyes – they were blue like her mother's. Confused, he sniffed, taking in her scent and memorizing it, and was shocked to realize that she didn't scent as a hanyou at all. She smelled just like he and his son, and as he took in the feel of her aura and her youketsu, he was stunned to realize that she was strong – just as strong as his son and heir.

"Kagome," he murmured in awe, looking up to meet her satisfied and happy eyes, "she is not..." he trailed off, simply unable to voice his confusion and awe.

But she smiled, understanding what he wanted to know, anyway.

"She's not hanyou. But she does carry some of my reiki," she added after a moment. "Enough so that no miko or houshi will be able to hurt her unless they are more powerful than me."

"But how is this possible?" he asked, just so confused and proud and still trying to take it all in even as he re-wrapped his perfectly formed pup and cuddled her close, nuzzling into her softly rounded cheek emblazoned with his own refined, magenta cheek stripes.

His mate of twenty years shrugged. "I suppose, because my own body is now closer to youkai than human with my youkai-like health, extended youth, and undefined longevity, your blood simply added enough to mine to bring her into being as she is. But it doesn't really matter – what matters is that she's here, perfect and as beautiful as her father and brother." She smiled almost wistfully as she watched her mate rumble soothingly to their daughter, all while running his clawed fingers gently through her already rather long – for a newborn, anyway – silver hair, and sighed, content. "I'm glad she looks like you – I had hoped she would."

"She has your eyes," he replied, unable to look away from his pup.

"All babies have blue eyes. Hers might well change," Kagome returned. She was about to stay something else when noise from the door drew her attention, and she smiled in tired welcome to Ginkoutaishii, and Inuyasha as both peeked in hopefully. "Come in, both of you," she said, motioning them over. Her smile widened as both rushed over almost clumsily.

Sesshoumaru finally looked away from his newborn daughter and up at his son. After a moment, he lifted the infant to give her to her brother, who took her with a natural ease that most human males didn't have when around newborns. As the young male stared down in wonder, their father said, "Welcome your sister, my son. She is pack, and to be protected at all costs."

Both Ginkoutaishii and Inuyasha were surprised at his words, also having expected a male, but not in any way disappointed – both were delighted, in fact.

"What are you going to name her, father?" Ginkoutaishii asked as he smiled down at his softly cooing sister, rumbling in welcome to her, making her smile up at him and rumble in return. He grinned at the tiny rumble, as did his uncle.

Sesshoumaru was silent for a moment, then he looked at his mate, wishing her to approve his choice. "Yuzuki," he said softly. Motioning for his son to hand the child to him, he held her up for her family members to see when his mate smiled in acceptance, and said, "This child's name is Yuzuki."

"Yuzuki," everyone else replied to finish out the small naming ritual.

"Gentle moon," Kagome said quietly, looking at her child almost pensively where she was nestled in the crook of her father's arm protectively. "It's beautiful. And perfect."

And indeed, it was. Everyone there could feel the child's immensely strong aura – and its gentle wash as it wrapped around them all, leaving all of them calm and feeling content and happy. Look like her sire she may, but she was definitely her mother's child.

It was, of course, Inuyasha that broke the contented quiet. "Oi, wanna let me hold my niece now? And tell me why she smells and looks like a full youkai?" He snickered, then. "Shippo's gonna be pissed he missed this – that's what he gets for volunteering to head training missions, the idiot."

The kitsune had offered to lead any training missions with alacrity last week and was not due back until late tonight. It had been his way of getting away from the suddenly once more unstable Inuyasha. By contrast, Mine was completely calm.

Kagome shook her head as she laughed helplessly, and Sesshoumaru sighed inwardly as he carefully handed his daughter to his brother with a narrow-eyed glare and a warning to be careful, which Inuyasha immediately took offense to.

"Keh! As if I'd hurt my own niece!" he glared back at his brother for a moment, before finally looking down and getting a good, long look at the pup as his nephew crowded close. He immediately melted as she cooed at him, an instinctive, soft growl breaking from his chest as he gave his own welcome and acknowledgment to the tiny pup. "She's so beautiful," he said softly as he stared down at the babe in wonder. "Keh. You're gonna have to beat the males away from her in droves when she grows up," he said to his brother, who growled at the thought, all three males in the room in that moment agreeing silently to keep them all away from her – no matter how they had to do it. Inuyasha had completely forgotten his question about her lack of hanyou features and scents as he watched her watch him.

The bonding moment was broken by Yuzuki herself, who put up a cute fuss and nuzzled her uncle's chest, looking for a meal. "Oi, pup," he said gruffly, "you ain't gonna find your dinner here." After nuzzling the little girl for a moment, he stepped forward carefully and handed her to her mother, then immediately grabbed his nephew by the arm and practically dragged him from the room. "Come on, boy, time to go," he growled as they left the room and the door slid shut.

"Hey! I wasn't ready to leave yet!" protested the young inuyoukai prince, and Inuyasha laughed.

"You really wanna stay in there while Kagome feeds your sister?" he asked as he continued pulling the reluctant form of his nephew away from the room. "I don't think your father would allow it, anyway, even if Kagome would. There's just some things a brother can't help his sister with – and this is the first one," he laughed.

It took the boy a moment, but then he blushed deeply and stopped fighting his uncle's hold. Both Sesshoumaru and Kagome couldn't help but be amused as their voices faded away, and Kagome pulled open her yukata to put the babe to a breast that was already heavy with milk.

"Are you happy, my sweet?" Sesshoumaru finally asked after watching his pup feed for a few minutes. Though he could feel her joy through their bond, he still felt compelled to ask.

"Happier than I ever thought I'd be," she answered with a loving smile at him and a pulse of adoration through said bond. "I thank kami everyday for their blessing in giving us to each other. And I will never regret the circumstances that brought us to each other, either."

He knew she was speaking of the well closing and trapping her here, and her loss of her family in the future. Though now it didn't matter, of course, since she would live to see that era again, at the time it had happened she hadn't known that. He was touched by how much she was willing to give up, even unknowingly, to be with him. He would give up just as much, he found with no surprise, to be with her.

Eyes softening on her, he reached out and took her hand from where it supported their feeding daughter and squeezed it without pulling it from its important task. "I also, would give anything to be here with you, Kagome."

It was all he said, but Kagome understood everything that was left unspoken, and smiled tearfully at him. After a moment, she turned her attention back to their infant, who was fussing again slightly, needing to switch breasts.

Latching on to the offered nipple immediately with a tiny grunt, the little pup began feeding greedily again, watched indulgently by her parents.

Sesshoumaru almost wanted to laugh with the irony of the pup before him. His mother had forced him to mate that heinous wench Yue so many years ago, believing that any pup Kagome would bear him would be not only hanyou, but weak. But the tiny pup impatiently rooting at her mother's breast was anything but weak. Her youki flared around her in strong whirls and tides, and it would only grow stronger as she grew into her full stature. And as for the hanyou part... well, she didn't look hanyou, nor did she smell hanyou.

On top of that, the scent of purity coming from her proved that mating the miko had actually strengthened his line – Yuzuki was immune to any attempt to purify her, unless the person attempting such was stronger than Kagome – which wasn't happening.

Yes, Yuzuki was every bit as strong as her brother – and had an advantage over him, with her mother's blood and power flowing through her veins. It was a protection that his heir didn't have – while the attackers would have to be very strong, his son could be overwhelmed if enough of those with reiki or houriki attacked him. Yuzuki would just brush such an attack right off.

It caused an uncomfortable feeling inside him – but Kagome picked up on it, just as she always seemed to know what he was thinking. Even the closeness of their bond couldn't explain it fully, but that was a thought for another day.

"I can bind my blood to Gin's to protect him in the same way, Sesshoumaru," she said, smiling at him sympathetically. She knew that he had often wished that his heir was also her pup by blood, though she treated him just like he was her child. And she knew that Gin himself had wished the same – he'd said it often enough. But while his true origins couldn't be changed, she could protect him as her blood would do naturally for her daughter. "That's what I've been studying for the last year – I've been searching for a spell to do just that, and once I found it, I had to be able to perform it correctly. It's not a spell for a beginner, that's for sure. But I'm ready, and I can do it after I've recovered from birthing this little one." She looked down with love at their pup, who was now mostly finished with her first meal and was slowly falling asleep, her suckling slowing as she drifted off. "It will be as close to making him my son as we can get."

Pleased and relieved, Sesshoumaru met his mate's gaze with those emotions swimming in his eyes. "This will certainly please Gin," he acknowledged. "And it pleases me, as well. My son will be safe from purification by all those rogue miko and monks now running through the lands trying to rid the world of all youkai." Sesshoumaru himself didn't have to worry about such – their bond would protect him from any chance of purification, as well. It was only his son that had been at risk. His brow furrowed. "What of Shippo – and Inuyasha and Mine?" he asked, thinking it odd that she had not mentioned sharing her blood with the others. As much as she loved them all, it was strange for her not to extend to them an offer of protection such as this.

She grinned as she took their pup from her breast and settled her in the little bamboo basket that had been set beside the bed for her. She didn't miss her mate's interested stare at her now much plumper breasts. It made her flush with pleasure that he would still be so attracted to her now fuller curves.

"I intend to offer them the same chance," she admitted as she slowly wrapped her yukata back around herself, cutting off her mate's view - to his displeasure as he finally met her eyes. She chuckled at the petulant look in them at his loss. "Come on, Sesshoumaru, stop pouting. While I've healed my body from the labor, I'm too tired to receive you tonight. You'll just have to wait 'til tomorrow."

A soft sigh coming from lips thinned with displeasure, Sesshoumaru merely nodded, then reached out and tucked a rebellious strand of raven hair behind his mate's soft, rounded ear, his own expression softening as he took in that weariness on her face.

"Sleep, then, little mate, and I will watch over the both of you. Rest deeply in the knowledge that I will be protecting you, my love," he smiled slightly at her sleepy nod, her lids already falling over blue eyes dulled a little with her body's need for rest.

"Mmm, 'kay," she mumbled, already mostly asleep. "Love you, 'Shoumaru," she added, her voice slightly slurred as sleep softened her ability to speak.

Pulling the covers over her tenderly, he turned and gently picked up the basket that held his precious daughter and moved around to the other side of his now sleeping mate and climbed onto the futon with her. He would wait to take them from the birthing chambers and into their own until his mate had slept for at least a little while.

Sitting back against the wall, he settled the basket on the bed before him and stared down with wonder in his eyes at his beautiful little 'gentle moon'. She was everything any inuyoukai family could want, and he felt a distant echo of that bitterness he'd felt towards his mother for so many years surge up in him as he looked at her beautiful features and allowed her potent but gentle aura to caress his own, even in sleep and just newly born recognizing her sire's own aura.

_So many years lost for nothing, mother, _he thought, almost spitting with the poison still buried deeply inside him towards those who'd made his life such a hell. _Even you could have found nothing wanting with my pup – except that she isn't a hateful, aggressive, self-centered and tainted bitch. No... she carries the soft heart of her mother, if nothing else, though she also carries all the great strength of her inuyoukai heritage. I choked on the bitterness I felt for you and the others for sixty years, and all for nothing more than your inability to see beyond your prejudice._

He sighed, flicking a glance up at his mate as he did, then looked back down at their sleeping pup. _Truthfully, it was a prejudice that I myself almost drowned in, coming so close to never allowing myself to see the worth in my mate because of it. _ As that knowledge settled into his heart and mind, he shook his head and felt much of the bitterness he'd held finally melt away. For truthfully, how could he blame her completely for something he, himself, had once been guilty of?

Oh, he would always blame her for what she had done in forcing him to mate someone he hated, but... he could not honestly continue to blame her for things he was also guilty of believing.

His heart lightened considerably as he sat in that bed, watching over his newest pup and the mostly human woman that had given her to him. Fortunately for him, he'd let go of his hatred and his prejudice, and _this_ was his reward.

It was a reward that was worth everything, just as his father had told him it was all those years ago.

_I am no longer bitterly yours, mother – I am no longer yours at all. _

He looked up at the commotion coming down the hall and smirked – then motioned for the male now framed within the doors to come in, though silently. As the kitsune caught his first glance of his sister, Sesshoumaru stood and slid the doors into the room shut quietly...

And the last little bit of lingering bitterness faded away as his pack became whole once more with Shippo's return to the palace, never to be felt by him again.

_Owari_

A/N: And done! Just a little bit of romance and fun to welcome in the New Year in Sess/Kag style. Hope everyone had a good time reading this!

Amber


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